The Unexpected
by The nevermore
Summary: Bulma/Vegeta AU fic. When the end of the road is in sight, sometimes a fork in the road can sneak up on you, even if the entrance to it is hidden behind years of lies... Can the Prince sniff out the truth that has been long since buried within the past?
1. Chapter 1

So, this is my first DBZ Fic.. Well, my first fic I actually intend to finish.. So go easy on me. XD

I only have a rough storyboard for each chapter written out and haven't completely decided on everything that's going to happen in the story, but we'll see how things go. Let me know what you think!

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I do not own DBZ or any of the characters.

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Chapter One

_"Sir, we've got the results of the tests.."_

_It had been seventeen hours since it was found, a complete medical anomaly. The dust still hadn't settled in the area where the impact had occurred and miles away, and within the confines of a private medical center outside west city, doctors were still reeling from the discovery that had been made._

_Never before had anything like this been found, and a controversy had sprung from it.. Doctors of all fields of bio-science, Orthopedic doctors, Neurologists, Neurosurgeons of all kinds buzzed about the small structure, arguing amongst one another about what might have caused the anomaly, and more importantly, what should be done about it._

_A single scientists sat at the head of the table, a smoldering cigarette stuck at the very edge of his lips, bouncing dangerously as he mumbled quietly to himself about the childlike bickering these supposed medical and scientific professionals displayed before him. The base of his right eye twitched in mild irritation as a free hand stifled through a stack of papers that had been presented to him._

_The sound in the room was deafening, a few of the men and women pointed fingers at one another, faces flushed and brows furrowed. Never before had this kind of a controversy occurred within this compound, and not a single one of those scientists seemed to take into consideration the moral implications of what they were suggesting. Dissection, keeping the subject under strict quarantine to be studied. Some of the more extreme suggestions had thrown a couple of the scientists into fury, one or two storming out of the board room._

_The quiet doctor plucked the cigarette from his mouth, smashing it into the ash tray, before rising. His free hand rose, and fell swiftly onto the surface of the table, palm down, causing a resounding slam. The sound caused every figure in the room to jump, quickly quieting down. The doctors and scientists stared at the source of the sound, bewildered like a deer caught in the headlights._

_"Enough squabbling!" The once quiet doctor said sharply, his expression still as calm as it had been when he first sat down. Every figure in the room sat quickly with not so much as a mumble. It was rare that the figure at the head of the table spoke amidst the usual squabbling, and even more rare that he lashed out. When he did, his followers were sure to listen._

_"Have none of you considered the moral implications of these plans? This is a living being who deserves every last bit of a chance at a fair life than each and every one of you. We will be doing none of these things, but we WILL be taking care of what makes it an anomoly."_

_He cleared his throat, before beginning his proposal.. Not that it could be called a proposal, since his word was as good as law._

* * *

Years later...

"So let me get this straight, oh high-and-mighty Prince.." Manicured nails rapped one after another on the surface of a metal desk in a rhythmic manner. Blue strands that had fallen out of a very loosely kept pony tail fell into her face, as she tried in vain to blow them out of her face through the corner of her mouth, before continuing.. "You broke into the gravity chamber BEFORE my father and I were finished with the upgrade, attempted to use the aforementioned UNFINISHED upgrade settings, caused the circuitry to short, BREAKING the chamber, and now you're asking; no TELLING me to fix it, and you have the GALL to give me a TIME LIMIT?"

Dr. Briefs sat quietly nearby, watching as their houseguests' expression twisted in irritation at the blue firecrackers' response to his demand, idly scratching the head of the small kitten that was ever present on his shoulder.

"Feh. It's not my fault you're incapable of performing your duties in a timely manner in the first place, Onna." His white gloved hand rose, waving at her in a dismissive manner. "And that doesn't change the fact that I want the machine done before that blonde woman serves lunch."

It was almost like a game at this point. He would insult her, she'd retort, and it would go on until someone managed to get the last word. It happened so often that the other scientists that were under Capsule Corps' employ did not even bat an eyelash as they argued.

"Listen, you little jerk, I'm not your servant, and I'll be damned if I allow you to push me around like one! I'll finish the upgrade to the gravity chamber when I damn well please, and there's NOTHING you can do about it!" She spouted as she rose from her seat, the chair rolling away violently in her wake.

The Prince did little more than let out a snide little chuckle, which rocked the woman right to her very core. It was like the unstoppable force meeting the immoveable object.. Neither were going anywhere in their retorts. Vegetas' brow furrowed at her as she fumed, her delicate frame trying it's best to look intimidating. "What's this?" He chortled; "Are you trying to look threatening, woman?" The Prince mused, before continuing. "I've seen more intimidating children on Namek! Now how about you stop wasting my time with your harping and get to work on the gravity chamber YOU failed to finish!"

Vegeta scoffed, turning about and swiftly heading towards the door, not even giving her the chance to try and get the last word. This was how many of their arguments ended.

"You are unbelievable!" Bulma's shrill voice resonated off of the metal walls of the lab, shouting after the Saiya-jin prince's retreating form, her hand reaching out for the first object she could find, which just so happened to be a small screwdriver, and chucking it with all her might at the door that shut behind the prince as he left.. All she could hear afterward was his haughty cackle as he mused about her supposed feeble attempt at retaliation. Hell, the screwdriver had hit the plexiglass portion of the door point-first, and had not even left a mark.

Bulma never claimed to be strong, but it didn't mean that it didn't feel at least a little satisfying to throw random metal objects to let out some steam, even if it didn't actually damage the object of her fury. She always seemed to have a short fuse, so much shorter than anyone else in her family. It dumbfounded the people around her, and even her parents never fully explained why. Bulma had always been an enigma to outsiders.

Her chest heaved repeatedly as she seethed, reeling in anger from the little argument she'd had with the Prince. If it were possible, steam would be pouring out of her ears. Their arguments were common, and one of them was always left in the dust feeling bewildered and enraged, but don't get the idea that Vegeta always came out the victor. To be fair, they were just about even, and it was possible that Bulma had a head on Vegeta due to the fact that the culture and customs of earth were so different than what Vegeta was accustomed to that he was often taken offguard.

As mentioned, these arguments were common occurrences within the Compound ever since the surly saiya-jin came to visit. Everything about him made her angry, right down to the disgusting armor he wore around, waiting until it got completely covered in grime before he let anyone clean it. It was sickening! Weren't princes supposed to be the epitome of royalty? As in, NOT covered in filth? It was completely the opposite of the ideal prince she'd seen and read about all her life.

It was then that Dr. Briefs interjected, having waited until Bulma had finished seething before making himself known.

"Well, I doubt the damage is that bad, dear. We very likely could get the repairs done before your mother finishes with lunch." Her father reasoned, setting his pencil down and grasping hold of a small toolkit that was made especially for repairing the chamber. He stood, and began to head towards the door, stopping only a moment beside his daughter to continue his little speech.. "So we might as well get to work. Besides, wasn't it you who decided to go out with that young man of yours and turn in before we finished the upgrade last night?"

Bulma turned her nose up in the air stubbornly, raising a finger and waving it.. "That's not the point. He doesn't need to know that!" Her free hand grabbed her own toolkit as she followed behind her father, heading out of the lab towards the awaiting gravity chamber. "And besides, we left signs up saying not to touch it. I know he can't read, but isn't a big red line crossing over a picture of the machine the international symbol for do not touch?! I wasn't about to miss out on a date with Yamcha just because Vegeta wanted to train at five o-clock in the morning!" She reasoned as they stepped into the chamber, observing what damage had been done.

As her father predicted, it wasn't as bad as they had thought. While there was a few fried boards, it wasn't anything they didn't keep on backup, and it wouldn't set them back a considerable amount of time. As much as Bulma mused that the idea of purposely not getting this finished before his allotted time limit may be funny, the confrontation that would follow would probably cause more harm to the chamber in the long run, and thus more work.... Not that Vegeta wouldn't break it anyway, but at least it would prolong the inevitable.

* * *

Bulma and her father worked on the repairs and the upgrades to the chamber for a good portion of the morning. As her father predicted, the work was done well before Lunch was to be served, which meant that the two of them could retreat back to the confines of the sub-level laboratory and work on more important projects; like the ones that actually brought profit to the company, and thus their family.

It wasn't until the communication screen from the main portion of the compound flickered on in the lab, Bunny's ever-immortal looking face brightening the room with that sickeningly-sweet smile.

"It's lunch time! Would you go fetch Mr. Vegeta from the gardens, Bulma dear? He's been out there all morning and I'm sure he's hungry by now! Oh and he's always working so hard!"

Before the blue-haired woman could get a word in edgewise, the screen flickered off. Her cheeks reddened with irritation, and her eyes narrowed noticeably as she set the papers she'd been brainstorming on down unceremoniously unto the desk. "The nerve! Why do I always have to be the one to get that stuck-up ungrateful jerk?! Augh!" She heaved in displeasure as she shoved one of the swinging double-doors that led out of the lab open, allowing it to swing back and forth as she stormed up the stairs and outside, her eyes squinting at the brightness of the sun during high-noon.

She lifted a hand to use as a form of shade as her eyesight adjusted, trudging through the grass towards her mothers' prized indoor garden. She quietly inched through the outside-access door, and stuck her thumbs into the pockets of her ridiculously short shorts she'd decided to wear, which was only partly due to the seasonably warm weather. She took great pride in her body, and much to her boyfriends' pleasure, she loved to show it off.

Bulma wandered quietly through the gardens in search of Vegeta, stopping only occasionally to sniff at one of her favorite flowers, or to admire a bird, or other type of animal that her mother kept contained within the gardens' confines. She never spent altogether that much time in the gardens, but the when she did enter it she always took a few minutes to admire the hard work her mother put into making it a beautiful, serene environment...

Of course it was only when she had finally found herself in a good mood that she spotted the target of her little outing. A small frown plastered unto her lips as she climbed the small hill leading up to the Princes' resting place, placing one hand on her hip as she gazed down at his still form. _He's so quiet, normally he'd be scowling at me by now.. he must be sleeping.. _She contemplated, tilting her head to the side as she observed in silence, ignoring the fact that the suns' rays were beating down upon her.

Vegeta had, as Bunny had professed, been meditating the majority of the morning under the shade of one of the trees within the garden, eyes closed and nose wrinkled in concentration, arms folded over his chest and back resting against the trunk of the tree. Over and over he went over his fighting routines, criticizing himself for his weaknesses, any openings he had ever provided his opponents, and any other miniscule mistake he'd ever made. He'd been tearing his mind and body apart the good part of five months now in a vain attempt to become stronger.. To ascend, to become what only one other had accomplished.. No, to become what was his birthright to become.

It wasn't that he wasn't aware the blue harpy was approaching, it was mostly that he felt his time more well spent concentrating on his technique than arguing with the insufferable woman, whose very voice caused over-sensitive saiya-jin ears to nearly bleed on a daily basis. Yet despite this, he could do nothing to silence the woman, for it was her very hospitality that brought forth his only opportunity to ascend. Vegeta despised the idea of relying on anyone, let alone a weak human for anything, but with the looming threat of the androids a little less than three years away, there was little that he could do about it. He needed food, and he definitely needed the gravity chamber.

He heard her stop in front of him, and he waited a good two minutes of her presence for him to finally break the silence. "Are you to stand there all day and gawk at me, Onna? Did you not tell me that staring was rude?" He paused, opening one eye, then the other. The first thing he noticed was the legs before him.. Pale, white and silky smooth, leading all the way up to the absurdly tiny yellow shorts that hugged her hips and upper thights.. She wore a small orange shirt that went along with it, with nothing more than a capsule corp logo on the upper left breast of it. The womans' hand was still propped on her forehead, blocking the harsh rays of the sun from her sight.

There was definitely something to be said about human women that caused the beastial side of him to stir, but not much more than the occasional glance, [or at least that's what he told himself], and he caught himself before it was noticeable that he had even spent a moment admiring her sleek, youthful form. His expression twisted into a scowl as he waited for a response. "Well? Out with it! I haven't got all day and you are disturbing my meditation!" He barked impatiently.

Bulma had obviously gotten the wrong impression of him when she approached the tree... Not that she'd ever caught him sleeping prior to his incident with the previous gravity chamber exploding, and even then his dreams were haunted, and there was little distinction between his expression then and the one he had been making during his meditation. Still, he always seemed significantly less domineering when he was like that, and even in his nightmares he still appeared more serene than when he was awake.

Needless to say, she hadn't expected him to speak, and reared her head back momentarily in shock as her mind processed the less than friendly manner in which she'd been greeted. Her mouth hung open a few more moments as she squinted down at the man, brows furrowing in frustration. "Well excuse me! I was under the impression you were asleep!" She professed, pointing a finger in an accusative manner towards Vegeta. "I CAME to tell you that lunch is ready!" There was a pause, and she turned around, huffing..

"Honestly, I don't know why my mother caters to you, it's not like you do anything around here!" She continued as she began heading away, back towards the house. "And to think my father and I spent all morning fixing your oh-so-precious gravity chamber for you! Not that I expect even a lick of thanks from the likes of you. Humph!"

She continued to rant nonsense to herself as the Prince hoisted himself up from the grass, and quietly followed the blue-haired devil. "Obviously, the woman you call your mother has her priorities straight... And by the sounds of it, you follow in her example despite your prattling." He expressed, obviously indicating that she'd done as he had told her to do regardless of the fact that she had protested it so vehemently. The devious smirk that crawled upon his lips only further justified his statement. Oh how he loved to get her angry. It was one of few sources of entertainment he had on this mudball.

This of course just made the woman even more worked up. Her hands clenched into fists and she drove a heel into the dirt, spinning on it to face the Prince. She said nothing, simply pointing at him firmly before spinning back around and storming into the house. She didn't even give her mother a chance to greet her before she reached out for a couple pieces of fruit, a bottle of water, and retreated upstairs to her room, which of late had become her one and only sanctuary. She shouted something about finishing her work there for the remainder of the day as she passed.

Bunny simply canted her head to the side carelessly, and clapped her hands once or twice. "Oh she's in a lovely mood today, don't you think, dear?" She chirped to her husband, who simply nodded behind the papers he was reading, and quietly consuming his meal.

_Lovely mood? _Vegeta thought to himself. _Since when is that harpy screaming at me considered a lovely mood? This woman is malfunctioning. _He scrunched his nose up in thought for a moment, before thanklessly having at his lunch, which was piled before him at his side of the table. For some inexplicable reason, Bunny always seemed all-too happy to see him scarf down his meal without so much as a sideways glance to her. It was almost unnerving. Despite his best attempts to seem cold towards her, he never lashed out at her [in the vocal sense] like he did to Bulma. In fact, no one else at the compound ever got quite the tongue-lashing from Vegeta that Bulma got... But the blonde one was disturbing in her own right.

_She is either incredibly smart or incredibly stupid, and I cannot figure out which_. He pondered as he eyed the woman, whom was fiddling with a vase of unknown flowers on the other side of the kitchen... As usual, however, no words were exchanged as he hastily finished his meal, and departed from the kitchen as quickly as he had entered, leaving nothing more than a heap of dishes in his wake as he retreated to the now operational gravity chamber, likely not to be seen for the rest of the evening... At least until dinner.

"Oh my, Bulma skipped breakfast too, didn't she? Well, those fruit aren't going to be enough! I'm going to bring her some lunch!" Bunny exclaimed in a disgustingly chipper tone, as she gathered a sandwich and a couple of side dishes onto a plate, before cheerfully heading upstairs, leaving an ever-quite Dr. Briefs shaking his head at the entire situation.

"Things sure are lively around here, aren't they, kitty?" He questioned the feline on his shoulder, who did nothing but purr in response.

* * *

Bulma had not even been in her room five minutes when there was a knock at the door.. She had been quietly peeling the orange in her hand, discarding the rinds into the small trash bin next to her desk, and stifling through a small stack of papers, mostly containing rough blueprints for inventions yet to be made. She hadn't even been given a chance to reply before the intrusion occurred, her mother trotting in with a plate full of food and setting it down on the desk, ignoring the fact that she'd covered the very papers that Bulma had been reading.

"I thought you might like a little more than some fruit, dear. Here you go! You shouldn't be skipping meals dear, it's not healthy!" She chirped, watching her daughter as she grumbled and set the half-peeled orange on the desk. It was impossible to be angry at her mother. Honestly, sometimes I wonder if she craps rainbows. She mused to herself, before shaking her head, dismissing the thought.

"Mother, I eat plenty, I don't know why you always insist on shoving food on me that you know I won't ever be able to eat." She insisted, allowing her hand to bend backwards at the wrist as she argued with what seemed to be a brick wall... Her mother never really listened. No one really seemed to pinpoint the difference between being an airhead and being a complete genius, at least not when Bunny is concerned.

"Bulma dear, you used to eat much more than this when you were younger! You had such a healthy appetite, I don't need you wasting away or anything!" Bunny replied, before observing the rather flustered expression on her daughters face. She caught on immediately what was the cause.

"Oh did you and Mr. Vegeta talk again?" Bunny inquired, clapping once or twice.. "He's always working so hard! And he's so strapping and handsome!" Bulma's eyes rolled at her mothers insistence of their houseguests' presence being pleasant.

"Mother, no part of that jerk is at ALL pleasant. All he does is march around and order us around as if we should be kissing the very ground he walks on! I mean honestly! He hasn't thanked us ONCE for anything we've done since the day he landed on this rock!" she argued, her cheeks flushing as they normally did when she was flustered or angry. It escaped her how her mother could think so highly of the ungrateful saiya-jin, but she had no right to complain. It was by her own will that she allowed the surly Prince to stay with them, and she hadn't yet decided whether or not she regretted the decision. The Prince was a mystery to all of them, including Bulma, who struggled between hating him and wanting desperately to figure him out.

Her mother, however, was quick to interject. "Oh! And how was your evening with Yamcha last night, sweetie? Did you two have fun?" Leave it to Bunny to be blissfully unaware of everything going on, or was she skillfully changing the subject? Whichever it was, it did not seem as if Bulma had caught onto it, and simply switched gears.

Yamcha always tended to change the direction of a conversation no matter what subject they were on previously. Bulma leaned her head back, eyes fluttering shut and a smile crossing her lips as she recounted the previous nights' events. "Aaah, he took me to this really nice restaurant out on the other side of West City, it was so romantic!" She cooed, clasping her hands together. "It's been nice since he was brought back to life, don't you think, mom?" She paused, bringing a finger to her lips in thought for a moment. "Wait a second... Where is Yamcha, mother? Wasn't he supposed to be here already? I don't remember seeing him at lunch... I thought he was going to be here?"

Bunny nodded excitedly as her daughter described the evening she'd had with her current love interest.. "Oooh that sounds lovely, it's been nice since he started with baseball, now he can treat you to dinner!" She paused however at her daughters' inquiry. "Oh no sweetheart, he hasn't been around at all today. I wasn't aware you were expecting him. He left so fast last night after he took you home!" She pondered with one finger to her lips.

"Huh.. Well that jerk could have at least left me a note or something if he wasn't going to come! How inconsiderate can a guy get? He didn't even call!" She huffed, slumping somewhat in her seat as she fiddled with the food on her plate, fork in-hand.

"I wouldn't worry so much about it, sweetie, that man is very busy now!" She patted her daughters' shoulder and scooted quietly out of the room.. Dinner wasn't going to make itself, after all, and when cooking for a saiya-jin, it definitely took time.

Bulma stared at the open door of her room before the audible sound of her stomach protesting its' lack of nutrients pulled her from her thoughts. "Alright, fine, I'll feed you!" She said under her breath, before turning towards her desk to eat.

Things had changed so drastically since she returned from Namek.. Not that she didnt enjoy the domestic life of burying herself in her work, she loved the labs, discovering new inventions, and all that came with it... It was exciting in it's own right, but it was safe to say that she had begun to feel...

_Restless_.. She thought to herself. She could feel her stomach twist at the thought of her current life. As much as she hated to admit it, her spats with Vegeta was one of the few things that allowed her to exert the energy she felt building up inside of her from the lack of scenery.. She had spent so much of her youth exploring the world with Goku and the rest of her friends, but the world that she lived in then was so different than the one she had now made it feel like it had been someone else's life, anyone's but hers.........

The sound of a glass falling from her desk jolted her from her thoughts, the steaming hot liquid of the coffee spilling onto her bare legs, and causing her to yelp in pain, immediately leaping from her seat and bounding into her private bathroom, where she hurriedly wet a washcloth with cool water and dabbed her legs. Thankfully there was not any damage to her skin, but it was a shock to her system nonetheless.. She was grateful that none of the liquid found its way onto her shorts, which were light in color and easily stained, but the stain that was sure to seep into the carpet of her bedroom was going to be a pain to clean... Eventually at least. Safe to say she wasn't the most tidy person in the family.

She did wring out the washcloth, however, and move over to where it had spilled on the floor and dabbed it as best she could so the smell would hopefully not seep permanently into her carpet... She had been so wrapped up in her task that she hadn't noticed the spectator that stood quietly nearby, leaning nonchalantly against the frame of the open doorway to the bedroom..

"Felled by a peasant's beverage now?" The onlooker mused, a brow rising at the steam that rose from the liquid that had pooled on part of her desk, and had yet to fall onto the floor. Despite his remark, not even he would enjoy getting a lap full of that liquid. Even in the open the beverage was still steaming, a testament to the insane degree the woman drank her beverage at...

"I'm FINE, Vegeta, not that you care." She huffed, dabbing up the liquid that remained on the desk before tossing the cloth into the waste basket, and brushing her legs in the places that had been hit.. There was little more than a bit of a pink mark, which quickly faded as she sat back into her seat. "What are you doing here, anyway? Don't tell me you broke the chamber already!" She hissed, eyes narrowing as she stared daggers at the prince.

"Pah. I merely came to see what the racket was, woman. The noise you made sounded like someone had throttled you. I was hoping to come up here and see a good show!" A grin twisted his features as he finished his little speech, the implications of someone strangling Bulma now having been placed out in the open, leaving the blue-haired beauty gaping in disbelief..

She quickly gained her ground, however, and stood upright, placing a hand on each of her hips and leaned forward with a devious little smile. "Oh yes? Because from where I'm standing it looks like you were worried about me!" She retorted, winking in a victorious manner, before standing upright again. "Oh how kind of you, Vegeta! I didn't know you cared!"

Vegeta had been taken completely off guard. His eyes went wide a moment and he grit his teeth in shock, rearing his head back and letting out a defensive grunt of disbelief at her brash accusation. He was dumbstruck, and couldn't even form an appropriate response before the harpy began to talk again.

"Now as much as I'd LOVE to continue this intellectually stimulating conversation with you, I've more important matters to attend to..." She then shut the door, right in the Princes' face, chuckling inwardly as she did so. Score one for Bulma! That'll teach him to treat me like a servant!

Vegeta let out an exasperated "Gaah!" before storming back downstairs and out of the house towards his gravity chamber, a slight shade of pink brushed over his cheeks as he did so. _The nerve of that woman! _ He spouted inwardly, before throwing himself into his training.

And there it was that the remainder of the afternoon was spent this way, an exemplary day in the Briefs household, which Bulma holed up in her room, and her father in the labs, both working feverishly on their projects, occasionally using the overhead displays to communicate when needed, Bunny cooking up enough food for fifteen people, and the grumpy Saiya-jin pushing himself to reach the extreme limits of his body.


	2. Chapter 2

Woo! Chapter two! No comments or anything yet, was hoping for critique.. And yes, this really is an AU story, it'll get there, have faith in me!

Let me know what you think! I hope some of you stick with me as I write this. I'm hoping to have a lot more.. I need to finalize my storyboard for this fic, I haven't yet decided how many chapters it's going to be, yet.

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I do not own DBZ or any of the characters!

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Chapter Two

To say that evenings at the Briefs household was outside the accepted norm was probably the understatement of the century. Nothing about this household was normal, even before the arrival of their current house guest. He just added a certain extra flavor, like the secret ingredient in a really fantastic family recipe.

Bunny had spent all of the afternoon in the kitchen, as she did every day, cooking enough food to feed a small army. She was always cooking, with a saiya-jin living amongst them it was near impossible to do anything else. At least the environment of the household had become significantly more lively since his arrival, and Bunny was happy to have a first row seat to all of it. All too often she'd spy from her vantage point in the kitchen as her daughter and their guest argued until one or both of them were red in the face, and they retreated to lick their figurative wounds for the next bout.

Today was no different, of course. She had only heard the muffled sounds of the heated argument down in the labs, and caught the tail-end of their spit in the gardens, but most interesting to her was the very short encounter within Bulma's bedroom. It was always so interesting to the blonde the way her daughter exploited the cultural differences between the two of them to gain the upper hand. You'd think after a while the strapping young man would get used to them all, but every time, without fail, he'd be knocked off his figurative feet. Who needed soap operas when this kind of thing happened in her very own home?

She had finished setting the table, a mountain of food on one side, and three human-sized portions set on three plates on the other. She could only wonder what kind of antics would pose as her entertainment as she pushed the button near the door to the living room, which rang throughout the compound, alerting everyone who lived there that dinner had been prepared and was waiting for them. Without a word, she sat down in her normal seat, and folded her hands in her lap, awaiting the show that was sure to come.

* * *

Vegeta still had not completely recovered from the shock of the blue-haired devils' little comment from earlier in the day. _The nerve of that wench! Addressing me so informally, and to what she accused me of!_

His angled features twisted into a scowl as his hands curled into fists, one planting itself on the ground, using it as a base to perform a series of pushups.. The extreme gravity he had set the machine to beat down on him was taking it's toll, as it normally did at this point of the day, beads of sweat forming in hiw brow, and quickly tracing a line down between his eyes, the center of his nose, before falling off the tip and to the floor with a thud-like sound.

His other arm bent at the elbow, and set itself on the small of his own back, as if attempting to add more weight into every push-up he performed. While he would never admit it, the woman and her father had done well in upgrading the chamber, and although he felt he was no closer to attaining his goal, he certainly felt as if every upgrade they gave him was a push in the right direction.

His mind had begun to wander, a good way to deter himself from the fact that his body had been screaming for him to stop, as it did every day, every time he turned up the settings on the gravity chamber. It was this kind of determination that would help him ascent someday, at least that's what he told himself..

_If that sorry excuse for a saiya-jin can obtain ascension, I can just as easily! That pathetic little---_ Unfortunately for Vegeta, his thought was cut short by the sharp buzzing sound that came just before the gravity was turned off... He halted his action mid push-up, avoiding what would have been a painful encounter with the ceiling as the gravity quickly powered down.. Bulma had warned him after his last accident in the machine that whenever his mother made the call to dinner, the gravity chamber would power down shortly after...

He had found out the hard way the first day after that, that she had not been joking... But despite his protesting, the woman refused to change the settings. The Prince could not grasp the concept that it was in fact for his own safety. She had done it to prevent more incidents that would endanger his health from occurring, but acts of kindness were often beyond his understanding.

"Damn that woman!" He spat loudly at no one in particular, before rising to his feet.. Bruised fingers grasped the clean blue sleeveless shirt he had chosen not to wear while training, and tugged it on, quickly and expertly tucking the ends into the shorts of identical color, which clung to his hips and thighs, stopping just above the knee.

The door to the chamber swung open and he peeked his head out, tentatively gazing about to make sure there was no one to disturb him on his route towards the kitchen. Once the coast was clear, he did so swiftly, the cool evening air drying some of the sweat that covered his short, rugged form... He said nothing as he pushed the door to the kitchen open, settling down at his end of the table without a word.

Bulma, her father, and Bunny were already there, and had been patiently awaiting the Princes arrival to begin eating. Human customs or not, it was nice to have that kind of respect, even if they knew he would never return the favor.

"Oh Mr. Vegeta! I hope your training went well!" Bunny spouted in her trademark cheerful manner. She received little more than a grunt in response from the prince, who then began to consume the mountain of food before him. The woman simply clapped her hands happily, before picking up her fork. "Oh it's just so nice to see someone enjoying my cooking so much!"

Bulma honestly could not figure out if her mother knew that Vegeta always ate that much, and that him eating that much of it had nothing to do with how it tasted. Honestly it was a wonder if he even TASTED the food before he swallowed it!

If she hadn't known Goku prior to Vegeta's arrival, she would likely have a hard time eating in front of him. Saiya-jins ate way too much, more than likely to operate their bodies, which while were not altogether different size-wise than humans, needed much more fuel to run the extreme amounts of power contained within them.. At least Vegeta ate with an air of dignity. He was very neat, clean, never spilling a crumb. It was like watching an intricate dance.

She brought the end of her fork to her lips as she pondered, a position she often used with pens when her mind wandered... Sadly, her moment of refuge was interrupted by the queen of all intervention; her mother.

"Oh honey, I told you earlier, you just don't eat enough!" Bunny patted her daughters' shoulder encouragingly. "You know, Mr. Vegeta, Bulma here used to eat a lot more! Oh she was such an active girl when she was little!" Of course, Vegeta said and did nothing in response, giving no indication that he was even listening to the prattling of one Mrs. Briefs. He never said anything at the dinner table, but that never stopped the blonde from talking to him.

Bulma let in a sharp breath at her mothers' admittance, an elbow reaching out to jab the blonde in a quick, but playful manner. A rich shade of pink rose on her cheeks as she protested.. "Mother! You're making me out to look like a glutton! I was not a fat child! I've got pictures to prove it! You took thousands, after all. I don't think a human on this planet can eat even a fraction of what Vegeta consumes in one meal!" She reasoned, one hand motioning to the feasting Prince. "And besides.. It's nomral for a growing child to eat more! I've no need to grow any further, and therefore have no need to eat more than I do."

Bunny simply shook her head, once again patting her daughters' shoulder. "Oh honey you were so much more lively.. Like you are when you chat with Mr. Vegeta!" What exactly was she implying?

_Chat? Is that what mother thinks I do with him? Doesn't she know an argument when she sees it? _Bulma thought to herself, opening her mouth to retort, but being cut off by her mother before she could even utter a syllable.

"Don't worry, sweetheart, your appetite will improve!" Bunny chirped, getting nothing more than the roll of her daughters' eyes in response.

"You're hopeless, mother." She stated, gaze fixated on the food on her plate. Somehow, after only eating about half of what was on her plate, she had lost her appetite.. It was likely due to the fact that her mother had added fuel to Vegeta's fire. The last thing she needed was more things for the Prince to hold against her in an argument.. She could almost feel his devious smirk behind the pile of dishes that obstructed their view. Whether or not he was actually doing so was beyond her, but she certainly could picture it.

Even the implication in her mind that he was somehow mocking her caused a fire to flicker within her. She wanted so badly to shout at him, but it was very likely that he hadn't even been paying attention to what her mother had been saying. She probably looked rather comical, her expression changing within the past few minutes from shock, embarrassment, anger, and now calm. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice, except maybe her mother, who was probably too entertained by it to say anything.

Much of the meal was spent in silence, Bulma still having finished only a small portion of her meal, the remainder of the time spent pushing her food around her plate with her fork like a child would when presented with a meal they did not like...

"Hey Babe!" A familiar voice came from the entryway to the kitchen from the living room. Bulma's expression immediately brightened, and her head perked up. She immediately vacated her seat and nearly tackled the scar-faced warrior, delicate arms draping themselves on either side of the man's neck, resting them on each of his shoulders.

"Yamcha!" She chirped happily, a sheepish grin spreading across the young mans' face as he leaned in to give her a few choice kisses on her cheek, temple, and the tip of her nose. To say that he'd come a long way from the bashful desert bandit who would nearly have a heart attack at the mere sight of a woman was an understatement. He seemed to crave the attention now, which may or may not have been a bad thing. Cocky would be a good word to use to describe him now, and he had an air about him that screamed pigheaded.

Bulma had noticed the change over the years.. At first it was refreshing to have him more open to being around her, but in the years that followed they had grown apart and come together so many times that it was almost predictable. People stopped caring whether or not they were together, and as the realization that he had been absent the entire day hit her, she began to wonder whether or not SHE really cared anymore. Still, she figured she may as well attempt to get an explanation from her.

"You were supposed to pick me up earlier today, Yamcha. Where WERE you?!" She asked in an only mildly irritated manner. She chose to ignore the indignant snort that came from the Prince. It was almost as if he had responded to her question without actually speaking, however she chose to dismiss the little interruption as little more than a coincidence. It was better not to question anything Vegeta did.. Hell, it was better not to interrupt his meal, he would get considerably nastier if his meal was interrupted or ruined.

"Oooooh right.. Sorry about that, babe. I had to do some stuff at the ballpark. Practice and all... Then I went to train a little bit at the gym, you know how that is.." He trailed off, watching her expression carefully, as if waiting for her to take the excuse.. She usually did, after all.

Bulma had been stung before by Yamcha, and her heart had been shattered, yet she still took him back. Unfortunately, she still found it hard to trust him. Even now, a part of her was screaming at her that he was lying... But she couldn't help but push that aside when she saw his smiling face. It always worked. His smile was charming and he had learned to manipulate her with it, and she knew it.

She took one of his hands and took him through the door that led outside from the kitchen, stopping at the tree not far from the compound, where she settled down in the grass, her back leaning against the trunk. He followed suit, sitting beside her, and only at a slight angle so he too could settle his back against the large tree.

"Had a bad day, Bulma?" He inquired, not actually altogether that interested in the ins and outs of her day, but more trying to steer their conversation to something other than his absence. Much to his delight, it seemed to be working.

"That's for sure. That little jerk tried to use the Gravity Chamber before daddy and I finished upgrading it and he nearly blew it up again!" She shouted, her hand motioning to the large chamber on the other side of the yard. "And he had the nerve to come barging into the lab DEMANDING that we fix it! Its not my fault he can't read signs that say DO NOT TOUCH!" Her chest heaved up and down in frustration as she ranted.

"Honestly, babe, I don't understand how you put up with him! I mean look what happened when he nearly blew himself up! You took care of him and got not a lick of thanks!" He reasoned, reaching an arm out to wrap around her shoulders, tugging her closer to him as he did so.

"Well, I suppose you're right that he doesn't give us any thanks.." She paused, looking away thoughtfully.. Her moods were so erratic. She could be shouting one minute and chipper as her mother the next, it was almost frightening. Fortunately for Yamcha, he had long since gotten used to it. He didn't even bat an eye at it.. "But he's from a completely different world, and hell, he's royalty! He's not used to life with anyone of a status technically below his own. It's not like I expect thanks from him. It just wouldn't be him if he did, right?" Who was she trying to convince? Herself, or Yamcha?

Yamcha rolled his eyes at her little speech.. "The fact of the matter is you and your family are feeding him, clothing him, and giving him a room and he doesn't give anything back!"

Bulma replied quickly and sharply. "Don't say that! First of all, I seem to remember a certain someone staying HERE for quite some time without giving a single thing to us.. Not that it matters, we have more than enough room and money to house extra house guests.. And second, he hasn't done anything to harm us, right? Well at least not since he arrived here from Namek. I like to have faith that if you're kind enough, you're rewarded. So what happens when he obtains ascension? I don't think he'll just do away with us or the planet, so it's not hurting anyone."

There was no use arguing with her. Her mind was sharp, much too sharp for Yamcha, who was only barely above the educational cut, though thankfully still miles ahead of Goku. "Alright, alright, you have a point. I just hope that he doesn't decide to go through with what he originally came to earth to do that's all.. If he get's too strong we may not be able to stop him this time around..." He shrugged, leaning his head towards hers to rest it on the one that was only slightly tilted towards him.

"Well, I don't think he's going to do that. He's not under the stress of having to escape a tyrant, he's got no other place to go, and I don't know if he altogether hates it here, you know? At the very least it's fun to push his buttons." She mused.. Despite all the arguing she did with Vegeta, could she go back to the way things were if he decided to leave for good? It was invigorating to have someone to have debates with that actually stood up to her level of intelligence. Yamcha was a pushover. Dumb as a rock.

They sat for a while in silence, before the scarred fighter lifted a hand to Bulma's chin, turning it to face him, so he could place a single, lasting kiss on her lips, the other hand reaching over to grab her waist in an altogether pushy manner.

Something inside Bulma twisted. It was like a hot, boiling discomfort that entwined within her very being. She couldn't figure out what it was, but something felt terribly off.. Sure, countless times Yamcha had attempted to lay with her, to take their relationship to the next level, and every time he'd been turned down, and maybe that was the reason she turned her head away, and removed the warriors hand that had hovered dangerously close to her left breast, shaking her head and ignoring the look of utter frustration from her boyfriend that followed.

"I'm Sorry, Yamcha... It's just.. I can't.. " She paused, finally looking him in the eye with the most pleading expression she could muster.. "I don't want to take that step with just anyone.. I want to wait until I'm with the one I'll be with for the rest of my life.. You know, the ONE." She hadn't realized that saying that could be taken as an insult.. Sometimes the most intelligent people lack the most basic amounts of common sense.. She wasn't as considerate of his feelings when she spoke so bluntly.

The fighters' brows furrowed in a moment of fury as he argued.. "So I'm not the one? Bulma, we've been together for TEN YEARS! How can you dismiss our relationship as nothing after we've been together that long?!" The volume of his voice rose considerably.

They've had arguments like this before, but this one seemed a little deeper.. "I didn't mean it like that, Yamcha! It's just.. We've been off and on so many times! You've broken my trust before, and I'm just not sure if you're the one for me yet! That doesn't mean our time together has meant nothing!" She reasoned, standing up as she did so..

He followed suit, his hands curled into fists, but not really in a threatening manner. "Well that's exactly what I'm getting from you, Bulma, NOTHING!" He shouted, his face contorting to that of rage and hurt. "I'm a man, Bulma, I'm not going to sit idly by and wait for you to decide whether or not I'm good enough to be with!"

Bulma knew the implications of his first statement. She hadn't given it up for him, or anyone, for that matter, but to her, it was a lot more precious, the one thing that once given, she could not give back.. Her virginity.. It was important to her, and the thought of giving it away so freely actually made that burning discomfort twist tighter, one of her hands touching her stomach just below the ribcage in response to it.

Most women her age had given it up long ago, but not her.. She had stronger morals, despite the poor influence her mother had with her shameless flirting with countless men in front of her daughter.. Large blue eyes began pooling over with tears as she argued. "No, Yamcha, it's not that you're waiting, it's that you have yet to PROVE to me that you're good enough for me to give that up for you.. And as far as I'm concerned, you have come nowhere even CLOSE to that!"

It may be that Bulma has impossibly high standards, or that she was simply a prude, but whatever the reason, Yamcha could care less.. he drove a fist into the grass in frustration, before turning away from her. "Fine, Bulma. Have it your way." He dug into his pocket, withdrawing a capsule.. his thumb pressed the button, and he tossed it, a motorcycle appearing after a rather sudden puff of smoke. He turned his head and spoke to Bulma over his shoulder. "I'm going back to my apartment, Bulma. I'll give you time to think about it... But don't expect to see me until then. I'll come see you when I've given you enough time." His voice was sharp, there was pain in the way he spoke, but anger and frustration could clearly be distinguished in it as well...

Bulma said nothing as the young man mounted the motorcycle and drove off... She leaned back against the tree, slumping down until she crumpled down into the grass, face buried in her hands, the tears she shed escaping between her fingers. She had cried way too many tears for Yamcha over the years, whether it be from his lack of being faithful, to his death, to every cruel and downright pigheaded thing he had ever said or did to her.

Vegeta had exited the kitchen and came upon the two of them just as the weakling had attempted to initiate some sort of mating, and the argument that ensued confused him to no end.. What was it about human men that caused them to want to mate so easily with a female that seemingly was not attracted to him? On top of that, he always wreaked of other women, even under the nose-burning cologne he wore, he could smell the mild scents of other females.. Did humans have no concept of life mates?

Well, obviously the woman seemed to, as she pushed him away and implied multiple times that the scarred one was not to be hers, or at least that his past 'mistakes' had deterred her from allowing him to claim her.. Saiya-jins didn't operate that way, they used scent as a main means of finding a mate.. Every one of them had a scent, and not everyone enjoyed each others' scent, it played a major part in choosing.. After all, who wanted to mate with someone who smelled awful to them?

On top of that, the idea of being unfaithful to ones' mate was punishable by death. There was no term for 'whore' in his language. He had only discovered that manner of living after being forced to live under Frieza's reign, and it came as a major shock to him. But it wasn't his business to interfere with human mating rituals, however on this particular night, the area the wench had decided to wallow at was so close to his Gravity chamber, he would have to listen to her caterwauling while he trained.... And that just would not do..

"Onna... If you're going to insist on wallowing and seeping from the eyes, go to your room. Your blubbering is wasted on the likes of him." He stated gruffly, finally making himself known to the woman.

Bulma jumped slightly at the voice, a hand grasping her chest in shock as she quickly stood, wiping tears from her eyes only to have more follow after it... She shouted defensively towards the eavesdropping prince.. "Why do you always have to sneak up on me like that?!"

His frown deepened as he stepped forward, arms never leaving their folded position at his chest as he did so. "On my planet, people like him were executed for unwanted advances on a female who did not want him as her mate. You humans waste so much time and energy on frivolous things." He waved a hand in dismissal of the entire situation, and headed back into the house..

Bulma stood in silence for a while, staring in shock at the space where the prince had been standing... Had he said something nice, or even _comforting_ in his own, twisted way? Well, despite that, it hadn't exactly helped all that much.. Every time Yamcha stormed out on her she felt crushed... Lately it had been happening more often than not... She saw less and less of him, and now she was sure she wasn't going to see him for a long time..

She once again attempted to wipe the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand, and again more fell, but instead of standing there like a deer caught in the headlights, she let out a few more sniffles, and headed into the house.. Her mother was still in the kitchen, cleaning up the mountain of dishes that had been left after dinner... She said nothing to the blonde as she quickly made her way upstairs and into her bedroom..

She immediately collapsed on her bed, letting out a few more sob-like cries into her pillow, an attempt to keep her emotions contained by her room so that she wouldn't disturb anyone else, mainly Vegeta, who at least deserved a quiet night after his attempt at trying to make her feel better, poor as the attempt may have been.

Pain, the pain of Yamcha's words had burned her to the core.. It had actually manifested into a form of physical pain... A headache began to form, and it burned right down her spine, causing the crying to become temporarily louder as she protested the pain that surged within her body. She felt her body shiver as she pushed her face further into the pillow, choking out a few more sobs before she became lax into her matress.. She was exhausted, the day had literally taken everything out of her.

* * *

It was no good, he could hear her cries... There were great advantages and disadvantages of being a Saiya-jin. His greatly enhanced senses included incredibly sensitive hearing, and even the smothered sounds of cries into a pillow through thick walls reached his ears.

He had reasoned that he had attempted to console her to quiet her so he could sleep.. _And it was wasted! She's still wailing. That woman is nothing but trouble. _It wasn't like he cared, but she seemed to have the most saiya-jin like morals when it came to mates, and it was in her need for apparently having one mate for life, and saving herself for that one being, that had motivated him.

He had known a royal guard prior to his departure from Vegeta-sei whose mate had betrayed her, and years later he could still picture the pain and anger on the female guards face when she had found out.. He had been young, but not stupid, he knew what had happened and it caused his very soul to burn with hatred. It was an incredibly dishonorable thing, and he had only wished he could have stood witness to the betrayer's demise. You could SMELL the pain and fury coming off the female, and in a smaller sense, he could smell it on the blue-haired devil earlier that night.

He didn't understand completely the mating rituals of humans, but from what he could gathered there was a period of courtship, and it was apparently acceptable for potential mates to consummate their attraction to one other without actually going through any formal means of declaring their mating officially. From what he observed, there were very few, Bulma included, who saved themselves until that time, and it was unsettling to think about. How could they give such things away so freely? He shook the thought out of his mind, his face twisting into a scowl.

Eventually, her crying had ceased, and silence fell over the compound... _She must have fallen asleep, about damn time._ He pondered, before the darkness of sleep took him as well.

* * *

Things had not been quite as entertaining as Bunny had hoped. Was it horrible of her to have actually been disappointed at Yamcha's arrival? She knew that there had been a long road for her daughter and the scarred young man, and it had been a tough one at that.. Lots of rocks, forks, and dead ends.. Still, their hasty departure from dinner gave her hope that perhaps things would turn out a little more agreeable for her precious daughter than it had been in recent times.

Much to her dismay, she watched the scene unravel from the confines of the kitchen, peering out the window as the two of them argued, and the scene ending at it's climax, leaving Bulma in the horribly sad position by the tree...

She had been ready to depart the kitchen and go to her daughters' aid, but before she could do so, the grumpy house guest had beaten her to the punch! To be honest, Bunny had not even seen him leave! He was always so swift and quiet.

People seemed to think she was a complete airhead, but she was a lot sharper than people gave her credit for. She knew way more than most people, and now of all times she was well aware that it was not time to interfere..

While she had not heard what the young man had said, she did take a glance at him as he entered the compound through the kitchen entrance. While he always tended to have that same scowl-like expression, she couldn't help but feel he felt a bit of pain from what had transpired. Perhaps a form of empathy? Who knew, but whatever he had said brought Bulma back into the house.

Normally, she would still attempt to comfort Bulma, however she figured she'd allow her daughter to keep what little pride she had at the moment and spare her the special form of comforting that only a mother brought, which usually took a bit of pride from a grown woman on the receiving end of it.

What she did know, however, was that this had been quite an eventful day.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note: Well, chapter three took a little longer than I thought, but not for lack of trying! I actually wanted to wait to see if I had any readers, and got any critique. Sadly, no such luck! But that's ok, I'm not particularly writing this for you guys. It's just good to be creative once in a while!

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or any of it's characters. I'd be rich if I did.

* * *

Chapter 3

The grinding buzz of an antique alarm clock sliced through the morning air and brought about the smallest of groans from a mass buried within blankets and pillows. Bulma had already hit the snooze button twice, and at this point, it wasn't going to respond to the swift palm that flattened on the button, continuing it's wretched buzzing despite the womans' best efforts to silence it.

Bulma Briefs despised; no, utterly loathed mornings, and this one was no different. A swirl of negative emotions struck her as she sat up, yanking the aged contraption from her nightstand, and giving it an irritated toss across the room, before simply collapsing back into her covers. She hadn't even heard the horrible sound the cord make as it ripped from the socket in the wall, nor the shatter-like crash it made as it collided into the wall with a surprising amount of force [considering the source was a scrawny little woman], breaking into many pieces. The pieces flew about the room, clattering on the hardwood floor, some bits landing on the small area rug that was conveniently placed on the floor at the side of the bed, as well as various other locations about the room.

For the past few months since the surly Prince had arrived, Bulma had to rise early to aid her mother in cooking breakfast. Why her mother insisted Bulma help her when there were plenty of servo bots that could do a much, much better job was beyond her, but the extra hands were needed when feeding a saiya-jin appetite was involved... This morning, however, she was having none of it. The combination of a stressful day, coupled with the previous nights' events had concocted a mixture of emotions that had not only led to a very fitful sleep, but a migraine that was obviously not being helped by the bright sunlight that poured through the partially open french doors that led out to the balcony.

It was one of those migraines that shot down her spine, burning, tingling in the worst way imaginable. She didn't want to move, she didn't want to breathe, and she certainly didn't want to deal with a certain someone's bullshit.

Normally, she would have been done with her morning beautification ritual by now, and would be downstairs pretending to be useful to her mother, but instead she remained in the sanctuary she called her bed, grabbing one of the many pillows and throwing it over her face to block out the light, before drifting back to sleep.

* * *

Little did she realize, her little stunt with the alarm clock had alerted more than just the small tabby cat that had been curled up in bed beside her. It wasn't often sounds of that nature came from anywhere other than the sub-level laboratory, or from their houseguest when he was off on one of his tangents.

The french doors had opened the remainder of the way to reveal that very houseguest, who had been all but startled at such a violent sound coming from the opened doors on the second level of the compound, and felt more than curious at it's origins. He hadn't even taken the time to determine what room the balcony had led to, at least not until he had pushed the doors open to reveal the scene before him.

There were bits of circuitry, tiny plastic, glass, and a frayed cord strewn over a good portion of one side of the womans' room, and a few plastic shards, colored to look like wood, had embedded themselves into a spot on the wall, leaving enough evidence to dettermine exactly what had transpired.

_How the-- was that thing so flimsy that such a whelp of a girl could so easilly shatter it?" _ He pondered, taking a few calculated steps into the room. His face was etched into what had been touted as his trademark scowl, though one brow rose inquisitively as he approached the womans' bedside. She was absolutely buried in her beddings, leaving only a trace of hair, and one long, smooth limb hanging off the edge of the bed..

"_Onna." _He stated curtly, using the tip of his boot to nudge the matress, causing the entire thing to shift slightly.

Bulma groaned in protest into her pillow, but did little more than draw her skinny arms further into it, causing it to press harder into her face. She knew he was there, he had a habit of rousing her from her slumber if she decided to try and sleep in instead of 'performing her duties as a servant', a habit that she had chastised him about more than once, not that she was expecting him to stop.

"Onna!" He said louder, and in a more stern tone. "Get out of bed, Onna, and go make breakfast!" He spouted, giving the matress another nudge, which earned him more than just the snort that followed.

The leg that hung over the edge bent at the knee, and kicked the air beside the bed with a speed surprising for such a small creature, but what was more surprising was the string of obscenities that had begun to fill the air from the woman buried amongst the covers. Something about being dismembered, and his torso impaled and turning on a spit if he continued to pursue rousing her from the comforts of her bed.

While he had no trouble evading the stray limb as it swung at him, he certainly felt the air displace as it passed by him, earning the raise of a single ebony brow. While he was nowhere near impressed, the fact that she had even attempted any sort of physical retaliation, and followed with what was little more than a hollow death threat had certainly been a shock to him. Not once since he arrived had she shown such violent animosity towards him, and it caused his gut to twist in irritation.

"What-- How dare--- As if you could lay a finger on me, pathetic human!" He spat with as much venom in his tone as he could muster, attempting instead to rouse the woman through words as opposed to further attempting to shift her bed. He was irritated enough with her pathetic attempt to kick him, and the thought of her trying to do so a second time would not help the situation at all.

What he got in response to his statement further sent the Prince into a state of shocked confusion.. A rather low sounding growl rose up from the slumbering creature, dying off soon after coming to life, leaving the blue beauty in silence, the slow rise and fall of the mass of blankets indicating that she'd fallen asleep again, much to the Prince's irritation.

"Tch.. Lazy, worthless servant." He huffed quietly, a few of the shards of plastic cracking under his boot as he stepped towards the door that led to the hallway. For whatever reason, the sound caused his head to jerk to the side, as if cautiously checking to see if the figure buried in the blankets would rouse. His scowl deepened when the woman had not so much as twitched, and his hand reached out for the door...

* * *

The door swung back into the hallway by the swift hands of one Bunny Briefs, who stood ever proudly, grasping what looked to be a small tray, covered in some sort of plastic dome in her hands. She hadn't even flinched at the absolutely dumbfounded saiya'jin who merely side-stepped to allow the incomprehensible woman into the bedroom.

"Oh my, Mr. Vegeta, did you break my dear Bulma's alarm clock? Oh how nice of you to let her sleep in! But she's going to be awfully cross when she finds out!" She said in a hushed, but ever sickeningly sweet tone, quickly evading the larger pieces of the clock as she moved to the bedside, setting the tray down on the nightstand.

"What-- I did no such thing! The woman wrought this destruction herself!" He replied loudly, gloved hands clenching into tightly-wound fists, and the little hairs on the back of his neck standing on legs. Had his tail still existed, it would have likely been lashing about defensively, every last bit of fur sticking up in his frustration. _This woman is insane_! "She refuses to rise and perform her duties! Worthless!" He exclaimed.

"Now now, my Bulma had a tough night. Whenever she gets this worked up she's usually not feeling well in the morning. But oh it's so good to see that she's becoming so spirited again! I haven't seen her do anything like that since she was little!" She said, ignoring the protested groans of her daughter which were in response to Vegeta's loud mouth.

Vegeta had opened his mouth to bark a reply, but was cut off by the airheaded woman before he could get even a single syllable out. "But my poor Bulma.. She gets the worst migraines, you know." She said, not really directing the speech at Vegeta, it was more like she was thinking out loud..

As she spoke, she removed the cover to the tray, revealing a very meager plate of cheese and crackers, as well as a small glass of juice, and what looked to be two white tablets, which he had learned was some human form of pain reliever, albeit weak. "She's been like this ever since she was a baby. But don't worry, Mister Vegeta, breakfast is almost ready, it'll be done at the normal time, why don't you go down to the kitchen? I'll be down there to put the plates out for you as soon as I'm done here!"

His nostrils flared with a snort of indignation at the audacity of this woman, but he did little more than reply with a rather stressed "Hmph!" turning his head and lifting his nose in the most arrogant manner he could muster, before quickly exiting the room via the open door that the Briefs matriarch had entered through only moments before. His footsteps could be heard swiftly thumping down each step, soon fading from earshot.

* * *

Breakfast was a little less tolerable for Vegeta without the blue-haired devil there to torment. He got much joy out of sending snide comments her way, whether about her appearance, her mannerisms, or anything else he could pick apart just to get a rise out of her.. Anything to stimulate his need for confrontation, for a fight, even if it wasn't of the physical nature... But with Bulma still hibernating in her room, there was little opportunity for such a thing.

Bunny was no match for his sharp tongue, and hell if he even tried she would probably just giggle in that air headed fashion of hers and blush as if he were attempting to court her instead of insult her. The woman was a complete enigma, and Dr. Briefs was, at least in his opinion not exactly worth spending the effort on. After all he did seem to keep Bulma in line on those occasions where she refused to properly repair or maintain his gravity chamber, and at least had earned the respect of not being on the receiving end of the Prince's verbal venom.

With this said, breakfast had been uncomfortably quiet, the only reprieve from the sound of Bunny idly chatting with her husband.. Mostly about worthless things like her pets, her garden, or even little subtle differences in her cooking, the last of which being at least of some interest to him, as he was the one consuming most of it. At least Bunny's cooking was good; a far cry from the mess halls and nutrition tablets he ate while in Frieza's army.

"Oh honey!" Bunny quipped, "Bulma is having another one of those awful migraines! She hasn't had one in years!" She said as if it were something of normal conversation, without even a hint of worry.

The doctor lowered his newspaper and raised a brow to his wife, a hand rising to pluck the cigarette from between his lips, smashing it into the tray before him, before speaking. "Oh? I suppose I better run tests on her nervous system then." He replied, before reaching for his fork.. His food hadn't even been touched yet, and was likely starting to cool.

"Oh dear, do you think she's having that kind of trouble again? She has been rather edgy lately, hasn't she? And what with Yamcha breaking her little heart.. Oh my poor baby!" She actually had at least somewhat of a worried tone as she spoke..

Vegeta had slowed his ravenous pace of consuming his meal to a halt, quietly eavesdropping in on the conversation between the two who sat across the table..

Bunny, ever observant [despite everyone's belief that she was completely unawares of anything going on around her at any time..] had turned towards vegeta, clapping her hands together as she spoke.. "Oh! You didn't know, did you? Poor Bulma was born with a horrible birth defect! She had to have surgery at such a young age. I did tell you she has migraines, right? Poor thing.." She turned towards her husband again, leaving that bit of knowledge hanging in the air as she changed the subject of her conversation to something hardly worth the Prince's attention..

He stewed on Bunny's statement for little more than a moment.. _Humans, so weak that they cannot even survive the womb without damaging themselves.. _He thought, before returning his attention to his meal without as much as a second glance towards the couple who chatted quietly nearby.

* * *

The sound of idle chatter of Bunny and Dr. Briefs in the lawn filtered through the open french doors and reached the ears of our slumbering heiress. She had been out like a light ever since her mother had nearly force-fed her a meager breakfast, and gave her some form of pain medication, and her limbs began to ache from lack of use, begging to be stretched in some form as she lay half-hanging off the side of her bed..

She was only slightly groggy from the lingering effects of the pain medication, a hand rising to brush azure locks from out of her eyesight, eyes squinting painfully at the light that now reached them. She could not hear what was being said, but from the position of the sunlight in her room she could tell that she had more than overslept.

_What--- Where's my alarm clock? _She inquired upon herself, remembering nothing of the events early that morning. She sat up, and was greeted with a very dull ache that thrummed in the back of her skull, and a very pronounced burning-like sting that followed the beats of her migraine, right down her spine..

"Nnn... Damn..." She mumbled, using her thumb and index finger to pinch the bridge of her nose. Where her alarm clock had been, a note remained, and she swung a hand over to her nightstand to pick it up, bringing it close enough to read with her still-blurry eyesight.

_Bulma,_

_Your mother informed me that you are experiencing your migraines again. Please come down to the lab when you are able so I can make sure you do not need additional care._

_-Dad._

Bulma just sighed, crumpling the paper, and tossing it into the small waste basket located next to her bed.. _Honestly, people have migraines! My father worries way too much. _She commented to herself as she swung her legs off the side of the bed, her feet making contact with the area rug.. Thankfully, her mother had cleaned the shards of her antique alarm clock before leaving earlier... Bulma could tell her mother had been there, because a small tray remained with what looked like a few crackers and some crumbs left on it.

Without so much as a second thought on the matter, she dragged herself into the bathroom to perform her usual beautification ritual, albeit at a much more sluggish pace than usual. She hadn't even put much thought into what she wore, tossing on a very flatteringly short pair of shorts, and a tight-fitting tee that only slightly revealed her navel for the world to see.. Her hair had been straightened recently, and no longer looked as if she wore a birds nest on her head. Instead, it hung about her shoulders and back in a long wave, cascading off her shoulderblades and swaying as she moved about her room.

She thought little of her migraines, after all she had grown up with them, and they often showed themselves in times of extreme stress. They usually only lasted a day, or less depending on the level of stress, and to be honest the pain was the last thing on her mind.. The words Yamcha had spoken the night before rung so clearly in her ears it was as if he were still there, shouting them.

"_Well that's exactly what I'm getting from you Bulma, NOTHING!" _Those words reverberated in her mind over and over, causing her emotions to twist in anger.

_How dare he! _She fumed to herself. _I'm not simply going to give myself to someone whose honesty goes as far as his arms can reach! I hope he never shows his face here again!_

She stopped halfway down the stairs towards the main part of the compound as that thought had crossed her mind... "I don't mean that, do I?" she asked out loud, her head canting to the side, the thrumming of her migraine reminding her again off his betrayal. After all, he'd proven himself incredibly unfaithful before, having admitted to going on dates with several other women in the past..

But wait, that was years ago! They were so much younger, and she had told herself that people can change. After all, ever since his revival using the namek's Dragon balls, things had been much better.. But still, the actions of the previous night left her blood boiling. She didn't even feel sadness about it.. Sure, she had at first, and she had quite literally cried herself to sleep, but after a horrible nights sleep, a massive headache, and time to stew on what had transpired, she was left with a feeling of betrayal, of rage, something that honestly surprised her. It shocked her. It caused her to quite literally lose herself in thought as she stood in the middle of the stairway, seemingly oblivious to her surroundings.

* * *

Vegeta had only recently finished his lunch when he decided that it would be best to take a shower before retuning to his training. He was disappointed to find the way to his room, and of course his bathroom blocked by the very bane of his existence, and she was standing right in the middle of the spiral staircase that led up to the second level of the compound. He stood a few steps down, watching her quizzically, admittedly taken aback by the rather fierce expression that was plastered all over her ever-feminine features.

She looked, at least to him, as if she were about to rip someone's limbs off, which only brought his thoughts to her death threat she had issued him this morning.. Surely that woman she called her mother did not actually tell her that HE was the one who broke the alarm lock, right? Not that he was concerned, well not any more than having her afflict his ears with her horrible shrieking..

_Ugh. I've waited long enough for the wench! _He thought, slowly reaching out for her shoulder.--

Whip! Her hand moved so quickly to grab his wrist that he had actually showed the surprise in his expression, if only for a brief moment. Bulma stared daggers at him, the fire behind her expression burning right through her fingers. Vegeta stood stock still for a few moments, visibly shaken by her very instinctive and swift reaction, before hastily ripping his hand from her grip without any real resistance, his nostrils flaring in irritation as he snorted.

She hadn't even realized what she had done until the wrist tore from her grip. Her eyes widened for a brief moment before her expression softened back to it's usual form as her mind came to grip with who it was that was standing in front of her. Her jaw locked and her lips parted slightly as she took in the morphing expressions of the Saiya-jin standing a few steps from her... Had he looked surprised? Oh no, that just wasn't possible..

"Well? Move, Onna, or I will move you myself!" He barked, an irritated scowl etched upon his dark countenance as he quickly regained his bearings, once again reaching out to grab her shoulder, giving her as gentle as a shove to the side as he could, all the while lifting his nose into the air to add that familiar touch of arrogance as he marched up the stairs and retreated to his room to shower, leaving a rather flustered Bulma in his wake.

He hadn't hurt her at all, hell she hardly noticed that he had moved her, since her mind had so easilly retreated back into itself. This time, however, she didn't linger for long, shaking the negative thoughts out of her head and continuing the rest of the way down the steps... She stopped in the kitchen, staring at the platters of food that remained from lunch.. Her mother always cooked way more than anyone could eat, but she supposed she was always overcompensating in case Vegeta's appetite grew as he trained..

Her stomach let out a very loud, embarrassing growl that she was quite happy no one was around to hear as the scent of her mothers' cooking filtered through her nostrils. She hadn't remembered eating any sort of breakfast, but thinking back on the tray in her room that had evidence of something, she must have, but surely it wasn't nearly enough, as a familiar lightheaded feeling hit her, signaling some form of hypoglycemia. She was hungry, no, _starving._ Surely, she had worked herself up way too much the night before, and considering she had hardly touched her dinner, well, she didn't have to make herself any excuses.

She retrieved a clean plate and quickly filled her plate with what could be considered overly-generous servings from what was on the platters, silently thanking the fact that no one was around to see her as she sat down and began consuming her meal in a rather rushed manner. She knew her father was waiting for her, but her stomach came first, as it was demanding her immediate attention.

She ate quite a lot, at least to her standards, leaving two plates and an empty pitcher of water [which had only been about half full] in her wake, before heading gracefully towards the sub-level laboratory, the ever present pain a constant reminder of the mind-numbing amount of tests her father was sure to put herself through.

* * *

"Cut that out! I said I didn't need that! You're wasting your time, and mine!"

The womans' shrieks could be heard all the way upstairs, reaching the ears of one very irritable Prince. While normally her shouts were aimed at him, they were also usually not quite so aggressive, at least not in the threatening manner she seemed to be speaking now.

If this was what she was like when she had a simple headache, he loathed to know how much she would cause his ears to bleed if she was ever seriously injured.

SLAM! CRASH!

_What the blue hell is going on down there? _He inquired, his irritated stomps likely heard a mile away as he made his way down into the labs, hell bent on confronting the woman about her "ONNA! What is---"

He stopped dead at the sight of the woman's' father, his lavender hair slightly tousled and his lab coat rather disheveled. He was stroking his mustache, while staring into a plexi-glass window into the room Vegeta was quite familiar with... It was the room that the doctor had more than once requested the prince into, whether it be for medical care or some sort of test on his ki levels.

The doctor regarded the visitor with little more than a nod, before typing into some form of computer console, completely unphased by the racket coming from inside the room.

Vegeta stepped closer, stopping beside the doctor, his arms folding over his chest as he observed the show that was going on.

Within the confines of the room sat a very irritated woman, who was hooked up to all sorts of little sensors, which again, Vegeta was familiar with.. Her hair was messed somewhat, and there was a broken chair partially embedded in some equipment nearby. In the corner, two assistants seemeed to be cowering, their clothes somewhat torn in what looked like the result of some form of struggle.

She was glaring daggers at what he knew was the reflective surface of the one-way mirror, knowing exactly the position her father was behind the glass.

"What in the--"

Vegeta hadn't been able to finish the question before Dr. Briefs chimed in. "You didn't think you were the only one who hated having tests done on you, did you?" the elder chuckled light-heatedly. "My Bulma has always hated being on the other end of experiments. She gets rather violent when I perform the particularly embarrassing ones on her." Like the one she was going through now.

"She likens this as being treated like some form of electrical socket, and hates where we have to place the sensors." He cleared his throat, as if attempting to remind the Prince exactly where they went_._

Vegeta reclined his head back somewhat in thought.. Ah, the sensors.. Only two on the forehead, a few on his neck, arms, stomach, and on his chest over his-- "Hn.." He said, not actually showing the emotion that stirred within him. He wasn't a woman, but he didn't like having anyone put sensors on HIS nipples, he could only imagine the degree of embarrassment the woman was feeling... Still, it was nice to see that for once, the shoe was on the other foot.

There was an eerie silence that took the area, the only sounds being the constant beep of the machine as it gathered the required information. The woman had a very fierce, violent scowl etched upon her features, her gaze shifting quickly towards the assistants when one of them sneezed quietly, causing the cowering fool to jump slightly. Her hands were clenched into tightly balled fists as she sat on the edge of the table. Had she any fighting strength at all, Vegeta might have been at least somewhat intimidated at the degree of malice in her expression.

Dr. Briefs let out a slight sigh, and muttered a few words into a small microphone attatched to a headpiece, and one of the assistants shook visibly in response, before very, very slowly reaching out a hand towards the infuriated heiress.

"Miss Bulma, we need to adjust one of the--"

"DO NOT TOUCH ME!" She issued a very, very loud growling threat at the assistant, who jumped visibly.

"But we can't gather enough--"

The heiress let out a yowl of anger, her blue iris and black pupils nearly fading into the whites of her eyes completely as she ripped the chair that was still partially embedded into the console out, before throwing it full-force at the thick plexi-glass mirror, causing the mirror/glass to reverberate and shake violently, the chair flying in the opposite direction, skidding across the hard cement floor, one of it's aluminum legs visibly bent.

Vegeta watched half in shock, and half in amusement at the womans' violent reaction, how her lean muscles twitched and flexed so fluidly as she chucked the object in her fathers' direction at the glass, almost surprised at the force at which it hit, almost sure it would break the glass...

_Those eyes... _ Never before had he seen a human so worked up that their eyes went white with rage. He'd seen it before on other species, his own included.. Hell, he'd probably experienced the feeling himself on many occasions, where he completely lost link with reality in his rage, but humans always seemed much too docile for that level of anger... But considering how embarrassing the situation was for her, he could at least partially understand. She was an irritable person to begin with.

A few more assistants rushed past the Prince, causing him to growl audibly as they shuffled one by one into the room to descent upon the raging woman, each grabbing a limb to hold.. He watched them as they struggled to subdue her.. Honestly? Five men, seven if you count the two that still cowered in shock, that's how many it took to take her down? Perhaps he'd not given the fiery woman quite enough credit..

Don't get him wrong, they were all pathetic, weak humans, but for a human, she was quite formidable, and it was always entertaining to see any sort of confrontation, even if it was between weaker species...

One of the men withdrew a syringe from his lab coat pocket and jammed it violently into Bulma's shoulder, causing her to roar in anger, a limb breaking free to swing her fist right into the man's face.. The man wasn't far from the wall to begin with, but he hadn't expected that hit, and he met fist with his face, and the rest of his body with the wall behind him less than a second later, but the damage had been done, and the sedative had been injected into her system.

A raven brow rose at the man who now had one hand propped to the back of his head, the other nursing his nose, which was quickly draining blood... His gaze then shifted to the woman, whos energy was very quickly draining, visible more than detectable as her limbs stopped flailing, and her eyelids began to droop, though surprisingly not closing entirely.

Why hadn't Dr. Briefs gone in there to calm his own daughter? His gaze shifted to the man, who was currently rubbing what seemed to be a very prominent bruise on his shoulder, his coat now resting on the chair that sat unoccupied behind him. It seemed he had already tried his hand at it..

_She would lash out at her own sire? Surely she's gone mad! _He commented to himself as he watched the assistants, whom were much calmer now, very quickly adjusting various sensors, though blocking view of any parts of her body that were inappropriate to see while they did so, before giving the doctor a thumbs up.

"She's in a lot of pain." The Doctor broke the silence, explaining what he felt surely the young man needed to be informed of. "Her entire nervous system is effected. The smallest being could become tough with adrenaline when in this much pain along with being so angry. This is common." He said dismissively, the beeping of the machine returning to a normal pace, his gaze fixed upon the screen.

"Hn." Was all the response the doctor got from the Prince, whom was becoming less and less interested in the goings on inside the lab space now that the harpy was no longer able to put up a fight.

She was still awake, her bleary level of consciousness only enough to eye the assistants in the most dangerous manner she could as they adjusted the sensors on her, and moved away to write on clipboards, some of them sporting quickly blossoming bruises, others going over to the sink to wash blood out of their skin from where her nails had dug into their flesh so deep as to break the surface.

Any of them that dared make eye contact were visibly shaken, and quick to avert their eyes.

Humans were such an interestingly pathetic race.. So many of them so easily frightened by one scrawny woman. This seemed to be the only species in the galaxy where the women were able to control the men, whether it be by their own sensual means, a sharp tongue, or outright with threats and violence, and it seemed that this particular woman had all of those qualities. No wonder they were so frightened.. He chuckled inwardly as he watched them all figuratively lick their wounds.

Ten minutes passed before it seemed the heiress had given into the sedative, and lulled off into what seemed to be a very peaceful sleep, her hair splayed in a halo around her head, looking as serene as if none of that violence had ever occurred.. Soon after, the assistants retreated from the room, and the doctor moved to a different console to gather the results of the test...

As the images began to flash onto the screen, it struck the prince what the test was, and what had just happened..

"You enraged her on purpose!"


	4. Chapter 4

Well, we're back again! More fun, right?

In response to my comments I got on my previous chapter: Yeah, I realized going into this that the AU aspect of my story starts out pretty weak, the world in which my story takes place is not unlike the original, at least from where the story begins, and I greatly appreciate your comment!

I'm sure any readers I have are keen enough to know the direction I'm going in, and hell, that in and of itself is waaay far from the truth of the actual DBZ universe. That's just the beginning, trust me. There's a saying: "too much too soon.". I had made the mistake in my younger years of writing stories where I got a little too excited about the ideas I had, that I put them all out into the first few chapters, thus leaving me with nothing to work with.

As I said in chapter two, the AU aspects will come out as time goes on. Until then, I hope you enjoy it. I really should get around to creating an established storyboard, but I'm planning on this being a rather long fanfic, at least chapter-wise.

This chapter is introducing familiar faces, in a sense, and a bit more character development. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or any of the characters.

* * *

Chapter Four

* * *

"I never assumed you weren't intelligent, Vegeta, but I'll give you credit on this one." The somewhat bent cigarette bounced between the lips of one Dr. Briefs as he spoke, a slew of papers showing various images, ranging from ki levels to the currents in his daughter's nervous system. They were panned out in a period of about thirty minutes, each image in a three second interval. When viewed on the screen in a progressive matter, or the papers held side by side, one could see the spikes, drops, and any other anomalous fluctuation.

"However, you're only half right, my boy. We really did need to adjust those sensors. See here? The readings on her left thigh and right arm and chest were off." He motioned to the images from the first portion of the testing that Vegeta had walked in on.. "However, her outburst did manage to help our data."

Vegeta eyed the papers and images as if they were something of less significance than the woman it came from. "Tch. Her ki levels are pathetic." He scoffed, a single brow raising as he watched the images slowly filter through the screen. Every vein, every bit of muscle and every part of her brain, as well as the stem that was rooted throughout her spine was mapped in a silhouette of her body. The colors were much like a heat reading, burning red, and even white when in moments of high stress or anger, down to yellow, green, and eventually a cool blue as it mapped the moments when the sedative had hit her.

"Nothing out of the ordinary for one of her bad days." The doctor broke Vegeta out of the trance-like state he'd been in watching the screen, as the elder spoke to one of his subordinates. "You two, since you're the ones who left the bruises on my dear daughter's arms, you get the privilege of carrying her to the couch upstairs." The two assistants stiffed momentarily, before quickly exiting the room to go perform their given duty.

"Poor girl, she's worked herself up a little too much.. She's going to be mighty hungry when she finally comes to.. I'll have to tell Bun-Bun to make a little extra tonight.." The doctor said offhandedly, his gaze shifting to the surly saiya-jin, whom stood awkwardly in the corner. "Don't you worry about her, my boy, she'll be back to entertaining you in no time."

The Prince reared his head back and snorted defensively at the implication. "Feh. As if I'd be worried about such a pathetic, weak creature! I was merely down here to quiet her caterwauling! It was an assault to my ears!" He spouted, before making a hasty retreat towards the sanctity of his gravity chamber.

_The woman has more fight than I give her credit for, though..._

_

* * *

_

Her world swirled in a series of blurred images as consciousness began clawing it's way to the surface.. "Nnn..." She tried to speak, her entire mouth and throat was dry, and her tongue felt stuck to the roof of her mouth.. Her limbs felt like heavy weights as she reached one arm out, feeling around for anything that could be of assistance.... Her fingers came across something round, cold and wet.. the sound of ice clinking against the interior of a glass reached her ears as the object moved only slightly at her touch.

_Water.. I'm so thirsty.. _ Her brain communicated as her digits grasped the object, her free hand planting a palm into the soft surface she lay upon, pressing down on it so that she could hoist herself up, silently thanking the object her back was able to prop up against, which happened to be the arm of the couch.. She then brought the glass to her lips, and her tongue swelled as the cold liquid reached it, like a dying plant parched after a long drought.

The familiar thrum of pain had dulled significantly since she first awoke earlier in the afternoon, as her mind struggled to recall the events that had occurred when she met with her father for his round of mind-numbing, humiliating tests. It was only fun when someone else was in the hot seat, but she could hardly remember any of it.. Had she even gone down there? _What a stupid question. I can tell when I've been sedated. _She pondered, finishing off the last of the cool water as the rest of her body began catching up to her.

The sounds of pots, pans, and dishes being moved about in the adjacent kitchen reached her ears, causing heavy lids to flutter open.. The harsh rays of the sun that normally poured in through the large bay window in the living room was not nearly as strong, signifying that the sun had already gone down enough to be obscured by the various tall buildings of West City..

"_It's almost dinner time.." _ She thought out loud, setting the glass down onto the table, and using that same hand to run digits through her hair.. It was tangled, and slightly greasy, probably from sweating.. I can't remember what happened..._ I went downstairs, talked to my father, got blood work done, and my dad gave me a painkiller... Then.. Then what? Did I get into a fight or something?_

Her fingers roamed down her bare arms, hissing through closed teeth as she came across the bruises blossoming in reds and purples on her limbs. How unsightly! And on top of that, she felt like she'd been in a sweatshop of some sort, parts of her hair stuck to the back of her neck and her face, a few specks of blood and skin dug into her fingernails.

"Nnh.. How disgusting.. Shower, change, and dinner.." Bulma told herself, shaking off the ever-groggy feeling of what remained of the sedative in her system as she dragged herself off the couch and upstairs towards the sanctuary she called her room.

She wasted no time locking herself into her large bathroom, a new change of clothes and a clean towel set aside, as she went about washing off the grime that she had somehow accumulated during her time in the lab. It was probably best for her not to question it, she didn't feel out of the ordinary, and at least her migraine had begun to fade. That was always a bonus.

* * *

By the time Bulma had showered, changed, and gotten downstairs, everyone was already at the dinner table.. on one end, with food piled up, was Vegeta, who did little more than pause for half a second when the blue-haired heiress made herself present, before quickly returning to his meal.. Her mother and father, on the other hand, had been patiently waiting for their daughter's arrival, their plates still empty.

It wasn't until the smell of the food hit her nostrils that a loud growl erupted from her stomach, reminding her that she needed nourishment. Not just that, but whatever had occurred in the lab had obviously exerted a great amount of energy, and she was downright _starving_, a familiar feeling she had from earlier that day.

"Oh Bulma honey! I'm so glad you're awake! Come sit with us, I have some good news for you!" Bunny chirped excitedly, clapping her hands together once or twice before pulling the chair out next to her for her daughter, who promptly sat down, and began filling her plate with food.

Dr. Briefs watched his daughter intently as she gathered a rather hefty amount of food onto her plate, at least much more than what she normally consumed.. He simply smiled knowingly, watching the girl sit down and begin to consume her meal, as if nothing was out of the ordinary. She probably didn't even notice the curious look that the silent prince gave her as she ate.

"Mmm?" She said between bites, obviously paying more attention to what her mother was saying than anything else.. Bunny was always a good distraction, and one would wonder whether or not she was keeping Bulma engaged in conversation to avert from the fact that she was eating much more than the meager portions that was the norm.

"Oh, well I called all your little friends and invited them to a party tomorrow outside in the gardens? Isn't that lovely? We're going to have the in-ground pool open and have a great big barbeque! Your father is even going to be grilling!" She quipped, noticing an uncomfortable shift in the prince's position, but Bulma interjected before the man could object.

"Oh really? Wow dad, you haven't done any grilling in years!" Bulma said excitedly, thoughtlessly spooning another helping of mashed potatoes onto her plate. "You guys always know how to cheer a gal up! A party is just what we need! I hardly get to see the gang all together! Unless.. You know.. Something bad is happening... Wait, something bad isn't happening, is it?"

Bunny chuckled in her oddly charming way and waved a hand in a dismissive fashion. "Oh no dear, but my my my what will I do with all these strapping young men with no shirts on by the pool? I can hardly wait! Oh and dear, I bought you a new bathing suit for you to use!"

Bulma's expression brightened. Fashion, shopping, and well hell, showing off what Kami gave her was probably her favorite past time. She chirped an excited few words of thanks to her mother between bites, but the moment was quickly turned sour by one Vegeta: moment killer.

His palms hit the surface of the table with just enough force to create a slam-like noise, just to get their attention. "You mean to tell me I have to put up with Kakkarot and the rest of your ridiculous rabble of weakling friends for an entire day?" He fumed, rising from his seat and peering across the table at the harpy and her parents.

Bulma immediately went on the defensive, a surprisingly low growl emitting suddenly as she too stood, hands curling into irritated fists, and her neck craning forward in irritation. "No one said you had to put up with anything, mister. If you don't like it, lock yourself in that damn machine all day and no one will bother you! What MY family does on OUR property, not yours mind you, is none of your concern!" She spouted, glaring daggers at Vegeta as she did so.

His face deepened into a threatening scowl at the growl, and her pathetic attempt to look intimidating, more offended by her body language than her words.. However, instead of dignifying her with more fuel for her to argue with, he simply lifted his nose at her, letting out a 'hmph'-like noise, before quickly departing the kitchen and heading towards the aforementioned 'damn machine'. He wasn't willing to admit that her reaction, in both body language and speech had actually caused him to instinctively retreat. What she had done was a common means to convey that a line had been crossed in saiya-jin standards, but that could be derived from the fact that she had pretty much grown up with one.. Even if the one she grew up with WAS a complete idiot. The instincts were still there.

* * *

The night came and went, making way for the light of day. Bulma's mother had replaced her daughter's antique alarm clock with a new one, though more standard for today's technology, but the soothing chime that it created when it went off actually turned out to be a welcome change.

Like any other day, Bulma was up bright and early to help her mother with breakfast, finding the motivation to actually be of use. The pain was gone, and with the prospect of a pool party hanging in the air, she was more than happy to oblige her mother with the assistance the servo-bots normally did, much to Bunny's enjoyment. Bunny was usually just happy with the company, but with the extra set of hands, it was always nice.

Breakfast had been awkward, with the prince consuming his meal at a maddeningly fast pace, even to his standards.. It was as if he was trying to finish his business in there as quickly as possible as to avoid any and all interaction with the Briefs' family or any of their incoming guests, which was not far from the truth. He hated the thought of all that noise, the onslaught of various scents from all of the harpy's friends, it was like an assault to his senses. Especially the weakling, who often wreaked of women and the various scents they had doused themselves with... Not that he expected him to show his face..

He had, as Bulma predicted, disappeared into the gravity chamber without so much as a word, well-prepared to spend the entire day in there without respite, if only to avoid any of her friends. She frowned visibly when she saw the interior locking mechanism light up on the side of the chamber as she sat at the kitchen table, finishing her own breakfast.

"Hey momma, can you use one of the other kitchens to prepare for the party?" She inquired, still staring off at the gravity chamber as the lights flickered in the many round portholes around it.

"Oh, going to make something for mister Vegeta?" Bunny questioned, but quickly answered herself before her daughter could respond. "He is such a dedicated young man, how nice of you! Well you'd better get started then! Let me know if you need help!" She said, already heading out the door.. That woman was much sharper than anyone gave her credit.. She never seemed to miss a beat..

Bulma had been ready to go on the defensive, but her mother was much, much too fast, however at least the woman had left the room too quickly to see the embarrassment on her daughter's face as she stood, pointing a finger, her mouth agape. "Ah well, I guess she's right after all.." Bulma sighed, and began to yank cookbooks out of a large bookshelf in the corner. She had a lot of work ahead of her....

* * *

Krillin, Oolong, and Roshi were the first to arrive, toting a few meager baked goods in tow, that they had obviously either bought from a bakery or had launch cook for them... They had seen Bulma hard at work in the kitchen, but were dismissed to the indoor garden, where the pool was waiting for them.

"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen Bulma cook before.." The pig commented, Krillin simply nodding in response.. Roshi had already found his way to one of the beach chairs at the poolside to enjoy the warmth of the sun and his... 'Reading material'.

More arrived, Goku, Gohan, and Chichi in their tow, followed shortly by Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu, and a very, very cranky Namek, who had parked himself under a nearby tree to meditate. No one expected him to be social, after all, and Bunny was happy to oblige him with tea.

It was just after noon, and Bulma had finished her cooking project, which she had been working on since her mother had left just after dinner. Platters upon platters of food were piled up on a large serving cart, enough to feed a small army, it seemed, but none of this food was meant for the party.

* * *

Vegeta had been hell-bent on spending the day locked in the Gravity Chamber. There was no way in hell he was going to be persuaded to socialize with Kakkarot or that rabble of lesser creatures. He had be feverishly training, having already reduced several of the battle bots that Dr. Briefs had provided for him, meaning he would soon run out, and would be faced with the dilemma of confronting them on fixing and/or creating new bots, or simply spending the rest of the day conditioning.

Sadly, a sharp knock on the metal door of the chamber broke him out of his reverie, his head snapping to the side and voicing a hasty reply. "WHAT?" He shouted, restraining nothing to show his irritation towards the interruption.

He waited several seconds with no reply, before shouting again. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?" Was stated in an equally loud and irritated fashion. When no reply came again, he let out a roar of indignation, before a palm swiftly crashed down on the gravity shut down button, before he made his way to the door.

He disengaged the lock, and swung open the door expecting to find Bulma and her friends trying to convince him to 'join the fun', but instead he was greeted not by a person, but by a very large cart filled with various trays of food. He quickly looked about, finding the culprit, whom was already at the door to the indoor garden, a long mane of azure swinging as she tugged the door open, entered, and let the door swing shut on it's own without so much as looking back.

His gaze moved back down to the cart, and caught sight of a small piece of paper, folded, and sticking out between a few of the trays. He pulled the paper out first, opening it to find a note, written in the common language used widespread throughout the universe, something Dr. Briefs had informed him Bulma had learned on her own using the scouter she'd obtained from Raditz.

_Vegeta_

_I figured you wouldn't want to eat with us so I cooked you some of your favorite foods for being such a good sport about the party. Just because everyone you hate is here doesn't mean you shouldn't eat. I hope this is enough._

_Bulma._

He ran a thumb over the note, admiring each stroke of the pen had given what he thought was a very bland, generic letter system a very feminine, and dare he say _beautiful _twist.

_My favorite foods? _Well, from the smells that were coming from the different covered trays it certainly did seem like what he had determined to be his favorite earth foods, but it wasn't as if he had ever voiced it. How could she have known?

His suspicions were confirmed entirely as he opened each plastic cover, revealing each course. _She cooked this? Certainly it could not have been that mother of hers. She's been entertaining those fools all day._ He pondered momentarily. _I wasn't aware she could cook at all. _But he'd be lying to himself if he had tried to tell himself he wasn't at least in a small part touched that the woman had gone through the trouble of preparing something he enjoyed for the sole purpose of making him happy. It was definitely a rare occurrence, and as far as he knew he hadn't done anything particularly spectacular to deserve it.. Well except that he was the Prince, but Bulma had never given him anything based on that fact before, why start now?

_I suppose it doesn't really matter. _He told himself, before dragging the cart up the ramp and into the Gravity Chamber for consumption.

* * *

"Hey Bulma! What took you so long?" The small child poked his head out of the pool, his bowl-cut slick against his head as he bobbed near the surface, watching the woman approach, towel and sunscreen in-hand.

"Oh I had to make sure Vegeta had food. Only Kami knows what he'd do if he didn't have lunch. Goku is bad enough on an empty stomach.." She spouted with the roll of her eyes, settling down on the side of the pool OPPOSITE Master Roshi, and tugged off the extra towel she was wearing around her body, revealing the very stunning orange bikini her mother had so generously provided for her. It certainly did cling to her hips and other parts in just the right manner, and she was silently thankful that the old man was busy napping with a dirty magazine over his face to notice.

"Oh Bulma dear you look absolutely fabulous in that!" Bunny squealed at the sight of her daughter, and hurried to her side, setting a cold glass of iced tea for her on the table beside the chair. "I just knew you'd look great in it! Doesn't she look amazing, Trunks dear?"

The doctor, whom was currently standing near a line of large grills, which were covered in various meats, was busy attempting to deter a certain someone from touching the food before it was ready.. "Sure thing, dea---" He swung a hand down and smacked the much larger one that had been creeping over the lid in an attempt to apprehend some food. "Now now, boy, I've already told you, not until it's all ready!" He demanded, pointing a finger at the pouting Saiya-jin. "I have plenty of syringes full of sedatives capable of taking down someone of your caliber." He said in a warning tone.. No, he wasn't actually going to sedate Goku, he was simply exploiting a weakness.

"Oh no no! That's really not necessary!" Goku squealed, a hand scratching nervously at the back of his neck as he very quickly retreated to the poolside, settling down on a towel next to his wife, whom was enjoying the sun near where Bulma had settle down. "Gosh Bulma, your dad is in a bad mood!"

Blue eyes rolled as she flipped the cap off of the bottle of sunscreen and emptied a generous amount into her palm. "No, he's not. He's just not too keen on you eating all of the food before it's even cooked. Why don't you go swimming with Gohan, he looks lonely in the pool. Let me and chichi have our girl talk!" She commanded, motioning to the water, where the young boy was currently trying to climb onto a raft, with little success. The bumbling saiya-jin simply shrugged, and rushed into the pool cannonball style.

"You know, Bulma, you should be thanking me.." Chichi said offhandedly.. "I had to spend an hour trying to convince Goku that he had to wear swim trunks. He was going to swim naked! I mean honestly, he's just too much sometimes.." She put the back of her hand to her forehead as if feigning some sort of awful pain. Clearly embarrassed by the implications. "If he wants to swim naked in the river with his son, fine, that's alone in the mountains, but it's certainly not appropriate here!"

Bulma nodded knowingly, rubbing the lotion into the skin of her arms as she spoke.. "I know! Ever since he was young, he's been like that. At least he doesn't go about groping people between the legs. We should be thankful he can tell the difference between men and women now." She chuckled, eyes rolling back somewhat as she reminisced.

"Being someone who's experienced that first hand, I'd like to thank whatever higher power finally gave him that knowledge.." The nasally voice of Oolong chimed in, a half-chewed straw sticking out of his mouth as he spoke. He'd been sitting at the poolside with his feet dangling in the water. The girls laughed in response, leading into other interesting subjects of conversation.

* * *

_Why am I doing this? I should be training.. _

Every step towards the inner garden he took, he questioned himself, yet somehow felt himself compelled to continue on through the door, quietly approaching the rabble of people gathered by the poolside. He never really understood the humans need to keep artificial bodies of water, filled with chemicals, near their homes. Were rivers, oceans, and lakes not enough?

He could hear the idle chatter of the women, the irritating giggles from the half-breed, and the deeper laughter of the boys' buffoon of a father. It was almost enough to send him flying in the other direction, yet still he found himself moving towards the gathering, stopping at a nearby try to remain at least somewhat anonymous.

His eyes first found Dr. Briefs as he slaved over the grills, but since he had just stuffed his gullet full of the admittedly incredibly tasty food Bulma had concocted for him, he had little interest in what was smoldering over the coals.. He made little notice of the old man, or the bald one, who was watching the two idiots in the water.

It wasn't until his gaze shifted past the pig, and to the women on the chairs nearby. While he couldn't see Kakkarot's mate, he didn't really care to. It was what was obstructing her that caught his attention.

Bulma was still very idly applying lotion to her skin, hands rubbing the substance into impeccable ivory skin, causing it to shine with an ever silky-smooth appearance. She looked almost naked. How could she be-- _No, she's wearing.. Something.. Something orange.. _He convinced himself, quickly and quietly moving to her side, just behind her line of vision.

"Onna!" He stated rather bluntly.

"Gyaah!" Splash! The woman had been so startled that she fell forward out of her chair, head-first into the water. Moments later she surfaced, hair now slick and flung back over her back and shoulders, azure eyes narrowed in anger. "What is WRONG with you, Vegeta? Didn't anyone tell you it's RUDE to sneak up on people? What do you want?"

He had to resist the urge to allow the corners of his mouth to curve up in amusement at the womans' reaction. He had not actually meant to frighten her.. Okay, maybe he did, a little, but not to the point where she would meet the water face-first. At least from here he had a rather lovely view of her cleavage as her chest heaved up and down from her vantage point within the pool.

He caught himself staring, and quickly tore his gaze away before anyone noticed. "What on earth are you wearing? They look like undergarments!" He huffed, turning his head away entirely as if he was somehow ashamed at the presence of so much skin.

"It's called a SWIMSUIT, Vegeta. They are not undergarments. We humans wear them when we swim, obviously. What is it with you Saiya-jins and swimming naked? And besides.." She slowly dragged herself out of the pool, not really noticing the sideways glance the prince had been giving her, quietly admiring the smoothness of her skin, coupled with the way each droplet of crystal-clear water ran down each and every curve of her body. "I think I look good." She finished, tossing her wet azure mane over her shoulder, so that her back was exposed, before settling back down in her seat. "What are you doing here, anyway? I honestly didn't expect you to want to come within fifty yards of the party." She paused, motioning for Krillin. "Hey, care to give me a hand? I don't need my back to burn."

She held out the bottle of sunscreen for the short bald man, who's face immediately lit up in a bright shade of pink as he nodded shyly, rushing to the woman's' side to take the bottle, and sheepishly began applying the lotion to the upper portions of her back.

"I go where I please, and I wanted to know what all the noise was---" He stopped when he saw the short bald one squeezing the substance onto his hand and.. And _touching_ the woman's bare back. He felt something akin to a dull ache coil in his stomach as the short mans' hands touched her skin, stopping him mid-sentence. He had felt the sudden inexplicable urge to snap his neck. It would be so easy, he was within arms reach.

_Wait, why should I care? _And that seemed to be the question that burned over and over in his brain.

Ding!

Both Bulma and Vegeta turned their heads suddenly towards the door to the kitchen at the sound.. "Hey mom, I think the timer went off on the cupcakes." She commented, Vegeta immediately turning his head towards the blonde woman, who stood considerably closer to the door than her daughter, then to the harpy herself.

"Oh dear, I didn't hear a thing, are you sure?" Bunny inquired, her daughter quickly replying. "I swear I heard it, momma, there's nothing else that sounds like that little timer in the compound."

Bunny quickly move towards the door, tugging it open and leaning in, the scent of freshly backed goods filtering out. "Oh my, dear, you're right! Thank you!" She shouted back as she disappeared into the kitchen to tend to her little project.

Vegeta stared quizzically at Bulma, before his gaze shifted towards the others that had gathered. As far as he could tell, no one else had heard it except the two of them... Not even Kakkarot, which was likely because he was too busy swimming underneath the surface of the water with his son to notice... But before he could question it, the mouth-watering scent of the blonde one's baking struck his senses.. Sure, he'd eaten already, but that didn't mean he didn't enjoy the airhead's baking immensely.

"Smells great, momma!" Bulma shouted back, before giving Krillin a nod of thanks as he retreated away from her after completing his task. "Hey thanks Krillin, I normally have someone here to do that for me, but I'll be happy never to see his sorry face around here again!"

Vegeta knew damn well who she was referring to, and from the looks of it so did everyone else. Krillin turned on his heels and faced Bulma, canting his head to the side as he spoke. "Oooh I was wondering why Yamcha wasn't here. You guys on another one of your breaks then?"

Bulma let out a growl, it almost sounded like a warning, and Krillin seemed a little taken aback by it.. "I don't want to hear _that_ name again, you hear me, baldy?" She snapped, glaring in the most threatening manner she could muster while still looking utterly beautiful. "As far as I'm concerned, he is not, nor will he ever be a part of my life again."

Krillin looked rather dumbstruck and altogether too nervous for his own good, it was an expression he often used in reply to anything Vegeta said, certainly not Bulma.. "Eeeh, I think you're spending too much time with Vegeta, Bulma. That was kinda scary. I think you need a vacation."

Bulma just rolled her eyes and shook her head. "No kidding. I wouldn't mind leaving this place for a few weeks. If anything it'd do me some good, especially if I'm starting to act like him." She motioned to Vegeta with a thumb, and he did little more than turn his nose up at her, looking away in an arrogant manner.

He tried to tell himself that they didn't deserve him dignifying that with a response, but he was actually just as dumbstruck as the bald one, at least momentarily.

"Oookay ladies and gentlemen, It's time to eat!" Dr. Briefs voice cut the conversation short at just the right moment, and Goku was already dragging himself out of the pool, his son following right behind him.

"Hey guys, let's get to the food before Goku eats it all." Oolong stated, walking in a steady pace towards the large tables that were piled high with grilled meats, vegetables, and all sorts of other foods that had been set and ready for consumption.

This was about as much socialization Vegeta could handle, and the last thing he needed was to watch the woman and her irritating friends stuff their faces, so he retreated out of the gardens and back towards his metal sanctuary.

The entire group sat around the large banquet table that had been set up outside only minutes later, idly conversing with one another.

"Gee Bulma, that sure is a lot of food on your plate.." An ever oblivious Goku's voice floated over the heap of food, his eyes peering at the hostess and her full plate.. No one had likely seen her fill her plate that much before.

Even Chichi decided to put in her two cents.. "Yeah, I mean since Goku decided to be rude and comment, that is much more than your usual fare.. Is there something you aren't telling us, Bulma?"

Oolong came next. "Wow no kidding, you eating for two or something?" He gasped. "Is that why you broke up with Yamcha? Did he knock you up?"

That was the last straw. Bulma had been completely blindsided by Goku's comment, but the myriad of questions and comments that followed were just too much. "What? NO! That's ridiculous! I told you all I wouldn't do anything of the sort until I'm married! I'm just really hungry, that's all!" Why WAS she eating twice, if not three times more than her normal amount?

Bunny listened from the other side of the table, waiting until just the right time to intervene. "My Bulma has been working so hard lately! She slaved in the kitchen all morning and she was sick yesterday, of course she's hungry! She barely ate breakfast!" She paused, and expertly diverted the conversation. "How would you guys like to go outside the gardens after the sun goes down and have a bonfire? I've got lots of stuff for s'mores, and I think my dear husband still has some fireworks from last holiday. It'll be so much fun!"

Bulma, as well as the rest of the gang immediately brightened. The Capsule Corp fireworks were always the best, after all.. "Great idea, momma!" Bulma conceded. "And since it's starting to cool down, why don't we all go inside after we're done eating and go mill about in the rec room? Father has the new pool table set up, and there's lots of other things we can do till it gets dark.."

How easily people assumed Bunny was too ADD to stay on one topic for long, no one ever seemed to pinpoint the fact that she was sharp as a tack, and successfully averted the subject away from a potentially sensitive subject matter... Only time would tell if all of these inquiries on her daughter's recent unusual behavior would die down like it always had in the past. The circumstances behind it was significantly different this time around, however..

* * *

Author's Note: Oh yeah, I liked this chapter, I don't know why.. .But next time, part two of the party! I'm probably going to put that chapter out today or tomorrow since they go hand-in-hand. We'll see!


	5. Chapter 5

Alrighty then! I'm on a roll! I've never really been much of a writer, but the creative bug has bit me pretty hard. I'm actually pretty happy with how this is turning out. I hope to keep this going, and I certainly plan to see this through to the end whether or not I have any readers.

I hope I'm not completely destroying Vegeta as a character, but this chapter as well as the last is kind of unique in the way the characters interact. Don't expect the entire story to be like that. It's sort of explained in the chapter.

I really liked writing this chapter too. It seems like the more I write, the more little ideas I get that help me pave the way to the eventual reveal, and then the real fun begins! I can hardly wait! Must be good! Must not cram all the fun stuff in one chapter! I will not revert to my old ways!

At any rate, I hope you enjoy the rest of the party!

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or any of it's characters.

* * *

Chapter Five

* * *

When the meal had finished, the party guests and their hostess made their way into the compound, each of them changing into more appropriate attire, before meeting up in the recreation room. As Bulma promised, there was many things to pass the time with there, including pool tables, card tables, a home theater, as well as a few smaller televisions set up with video game consoles of various brands, each stocked with a generous amount of games. There was even a couch and a loveseat in the far corner of the room next to a bookcase that held various literature, mostly the Briefs' favorites.

Bulma had reminisced with chi-chi with some photo albums of her adventures with Goku, knowing chi-chi had all but missed most of them. It was always fun to re-tell old stories, especially over coffee and Bulma's mother's famous cupcakes, which they were finally able to enjoy, now that the blonde woman had finished frosting and decorating them.

Time passed quickly, none of them realizing when exactly it had gotten dark until Bunny had come in with two arms full of materials for s'mores. None of them needed much coaxing to retreat from the rec room in favor of fire and more sickeningly sweet sugary treats.

Vegeta had spent that time, as usual, in the Gravity Chamber. By now he had exhausted his supply of bots entirely, and was left with little left to train with, not to mention the fact that he was rapidly approaching the current gravity limits of the chamber, meaning he would have to bother the woman and her father not only for repairs to the bots, but for another upgrade, which usually involved more than one argument. The likelihood of either the woman or her sire actually working on the bots or the chamber while they had so many guests was very slim, and for once he conceded that it would simply had to wait until morning.

He had at least been pleased that no one had come to bother him during that time. Training was always more productive when he was left to his own device... In fact not a thing disturbed him until after the sun went down, when the sounds of idle chatter and laughter filtered through the metal walls as the party guests idly strolled past the chamber on their way to the other end of the yard.

He was content to leave them be, at least until the sight of a rather large pyre of some sort caught his attention from the corner of his eye. _What in the... Did someone die? _He pondered, hitting the shutdown button on the gravity, intent on finding out exactly what the purpose was for the large fire in the distant part of the compound grounds.

* * *

"Ooooh boy! these are so good!" A young boy, his face covered in melted chocolate and marshmallow exclaimed.

"Oh Gohan, look at you! You are starting to eat too much like your father, honestly! The things I have to do!" The group laughed lightheartedly as they sat around the fire, holding large metal sticks, full of marshmallows as they watched Chichi wipe her son's face, much to the boy's humiliation.

"Oh come on, Cheech. Let the kid have some fun! The mess is what makes S'mores great!" Bulma reasoned, not noticing her marshmallow had burnt to a crisp and melted off her stick.. "Ooops!" She said as it fell into the fire, quickly replacing the marshmallow she had lost with another, before fishing through the bags for the graham crackers and chocolate that would eventually go along with it.

Tien, having spent most of the day with Chiaotzu and Piccolo in meditation, had finally taken his small companion and joined the fun, at the request of his blue-haired friend of course. He currently held the skewer for Chiaotzu, whom had already nearly burned himself in the fire trying to handle the object that was much too long for his tiny stature.

Krillin mused with Oolong about who could eat more servings, and Master Roshi quietly stared at Bulma's exposed cleavage from his vantage point not far from the young woman.

That was Bulma's fault, of course. She always chose the most revealing clothing. Even now she wore a pair of very short, and low-cut khaki colored shorts, and a pink spaghetti-string shirt that stopped just above her navel. Given, she certainly had the body for it, but she wasn't doing herself any favors when it came to dealing with the old lecher. At least she didn't notice his not-so-discreet ogling. She was more involved in watching Chichi fuss over her son.

Goku was, as usual, stuffing his face. He had been given a significantly larger amount of s'mores supplies than everyone else, and for good reason. Even in saiya-jin standards, he was a bottomless pit.

No one really noticed Vegeta's presence, not far from the light of the fire, except maybe Piccolo, but he wasn't about to announce the Prince. It wasn't his business, and he certainly didn't feel it necessary to say anything as long as the man wasn't starting any trouble, and with Goku present, it wasn't very likely.

Vegeta stared at the group for a good few minutes, curiosity hidden behind the ever-present scowl on his face. _What on earth are they cooking over the fire? It smells like what the blonde one calls pastries, what an archaic way to cook them!_

When had Bulma gotten up from her chair, a constructed s'mores in-tow? Hell, Vegeta was so wrapped up in watching the construction off the treat to realize she had noticed him there, and taken it upon herself to approach him, though staying outside arms length, mostly as a safety measure, but also to acknowledge his need for personal space, which was greater than most humans.

"Hey there, you decided to join us." She commented in an unusually calm tone, a pleased look spread across stunningly beautiful features.

His attention tore away from the group gathered around the fire and to the woman who stood nearby. Something about the way the flickering light of the fire creating a halo of light around her caught him in a momentary trance. His gaze traced up down the woman's figure, then back up, stopping at the strange food in her hand, brow rising only somewhat in question.

"You've never had s'mores, have you?" She asked, but held out the treat for him to take before he could answer. "Here, try one I made. You like my mother's baked goods, you'll like these I promise." She said, practically shoving it into one of the Saiya-jin's hands, before returning to her seat by the fire. She knew if she stayed there she would make him feel awkward, at least more than he already was.

Vegeta wasn't going to refuse food, he was beyond the point of thinking the harpy would poison him by now, after all he had consumed quite a large amount of her food earlier that day, so he didn't argue when the food was handed to him. He did, however, make an attempt at examining it. He brought the sandwich-like creation to his nose, sniffing at it curiously, before tentatively taking a bite out of it.

The explosion of sweet flavoring, combined with the smooth and rough textures was quite pleasant, though the sticky marshmallow was still quite hot and had surprised him, albeit momentarily. Still, he was rather pleased with the treat, more than appeased that the woman had shared what was established as _her_ food with him. At the very least, it made him a little less irritated at the presence of her guests and their idle chatter.

He still hadn't gotten past the fact that humans shared food, though this was the first time he had ever seen Bulma do it. He never shared, it wasn't in his nature. Hell, it wasn't in his species' nature, save for rare occasions, such as between mates, to their offspring, or even offspring to their sires in an attempt to appease them, but humans seemed all but oblivious to that. More than once he had caught various humans passing off bits of their meals to one another. Considering how little humans ate, it came as a shock to him. This species had the most peculiar culture.

Instead of hanging back in the darkness, he actually stepped into the light of the fire, standing quietly beside Bulma, whom was the only one he even remotely felt at ease with. While he failed to see why they needed to construct such a large fire for the sole creation of sweet treats, he didn't altogether mind watching the fire as it danced and crackled into the night air.

Occasionally Bulma would offer up another treat to the quiet Saiya-jin at her side, smiling in a warm manner whenever he quietly accepted the offering and consumed it at a surprisingly human-like pace, as if actually taking a moment or two to savor the flavor and texture.

To be honest, it was the little things like his momentary pauses in eating, or even the ever subtle changes in his expression, right down to the order in which he ate his food that had allowed Bulma to figure out what his favorite foods were. While to everyone else it would have been an impossible task, she somehow found it hard to ignore, and it was those subtleties that she found rather endearing.

It was moments like these, the ones that no one else noticed, that Bulma appreciated, it almost made all the crap he put her through on a daily basis worth it, the little signs that somewhere under that shroud of arrogance and bloodstains was a man, a man with emotions like everyone else. With likes and dislikes that extended beyond the realm of what or who he liked to beat to a bloody pulp. She wasn't stupid, she knew there was more to him than that.

"So Bulma" Chichi's voice broke the silence that had taken that side of the bonfire. "Your mom said something about fireworks, when do you think they'll be ready?"

Bulma's lips curled into a knowing smile, her head tilting back in thought. "Oh, knowing my father, they'll be ready any time now. My mother said she'd be around to let us know, then we can move to the hillside in the rear of the compound to watch." She noticed her grumpy companion staring at her in question, almost surprised that he hadn't chimed in with some form of insult by now. She wasn't going to argue it.

"Have you ever seen fireworks, Vegeta? They're really something different. If you're bored enough, you should join us for a little while when we go." She invited with a rather charming smile, and the offering of another melty, sweet concoction.

He eyed her for a moment, offering little more than a "Hn." In response to her invitation. Thus far what humans considered entertainment had been somewhat of a disappointment, but the look of excitement in everyone's eyes did pluck a string of interest in him. Maybe he would join them, if at least just to see what all the fuss was about.

He did take the offered food, of course, telling himself that was the only reason he remained by the woman's side, but he knew that wasn't entirely true. She was intriguing, Her little quirks and mannerisms, the way she smiled and sought to appease him in a manner that was unlike her mother, or any of the other servants he'd grown up with. She certainly was quite a bit different from the humans she surrounded herself with, aside from her astounding intelligence. The fact that she had deciphered the universal language was stunning enough, after all. Her mannerisms were oddly familiar to him, yet foreign at the same time.

Vegeta had no interest in becoming too acquainted with the woman's group of comrades, but at least her presence had somehow put him at ease enough to stop issuing death threats via his expression to anyone who was caught making eye contact with him.

That didn't mean he was completely in touch with himself, however. He could not help but wonder what that horrible feeling he got when he noticed the bald one or the old one, or hell even the pig giving Bulma very obvious admiring looks, and more than once he had issued a very low, threatening growl towards the lecherous old man when he craned his neck to try and get a better view of the woman's cleavage.

No one seemed to mind that, though, since Master Roshi was always sticking his dirty face, hands, or whatever into places he shouldn't, and they simply accepted Vegeta's growling as his means of punishing the old man for his attempts, and it seemed to be rather effective. Thus far he hadn't tried to grab her chest, or imply anything of the sort, it had to be a record.

"Alright everyone! It's time for the show!" Bunny's voice echoed through the intercom system via a single speaker on the side of the compound they were located. A few servo-bots appeared to take care of the bonfire and the mess that was left while the group began to make their way around the compound on foot, choosing to take that route since half of them lacked the ability to fly.

Bulma had finished up some idle chitchat with Chichi and had left with the rest, though she stopped momentarily to look at the Prince, whom was still standing by the now smoldering bonfire. She motioned with a hand for him to follow and gave him a rather expectant look, before quickly returning to her friends' side. It was up to him to decide whether or not he wanted to join them. The invitation was there either way.

He had still not quite decided whether or not he wanted to join them, enjoying the quiet that had fallen over the area, save for the sounds of the servo-bots as they cleaned and doused the fire... Still, curiosity began to get the best of him, and after seeking out the groups' ki signature, he made his way towards them, opting for the aerial approach, landing somewhere behind the group, whom had settled on the grass only slightly down the slope of the very large hill the compound was located on top of.

Bulma had heard the distinct sound of ki dissipating as the Prince landed, and looked over her shoulder at him. He stood there silently, staring at the group with the most accusative expression etched into his usual scowl. She was set apart from the others slightly, as if she had planned the whole thing, and patted the spot in the grass beside her, offering him a very welcoming expression right along with her silent invitation.

He tilted his head upwards, staring down his nose at her momentarily, not actually trying to look offended, even if that's how it came off. He was actually fighting with the mix of emotions that had found it's way out from the core of his being. The woman had always attempted to be somewhat pleasant to him, if only to save her own skin, but this was the first time she'd acted as if he was welcome in her life as more than just a house guest. Friendship wasn't exactly a foreign concept, but life under Frieza, and the competition that came with surviving under his rule had made it very difficult for him to trust. Everyone was at each others necks, even his own kind. Those that could not compete were eliminated.

But he had been eating the food she cooked, living under her roof, and putting himself into situations in her father's laboratory that were more than compromising to his very being. They had many opportunities to take advantage of him in his weakened state after the first gravity chamber had exploded, and it was she who had gained at least a small amount of trust by going the extra mile, even downright risking bodily harm by regulating his training via the automatic shut-down at mealtime to assure that he did not cause _himself_ any more harm. He could have killed her for that, and he was sure she was aware of the risk. She had guts, that was more than he could say for her ex-mate, who nearly emptied his bladder at the sight of the Prince.

The question hung in the back of his head, did he really want a human in his life? Did he want any sort of chain binding him, even in the smallest amount, to this planet? The only reason he remained was because they provided him with the tools to obtain ascension... Right?

Shaking the thought from his mind, he acquiesced to the woman's beckoning, and very quietly settled himself down onto the hillside beside her, his arms crossed across his chest to maintain at least somewhat of an air of dignity. At least no one seemed to comment on his presence. Even that witch Kakkarot called a mate was being civil to him. Last time he saw her prior to this party, she had been covered in some form of human weaponry. That woman was frightening in only the sense that she was completely off her rocker.

His brows knotted somewhat as a few small balls of light launched into the sky from someplace in the distance. He watched them curiously until..

His entire body tensed at the loud explosive sounds, his eyes widening significantly in shock as he watched the orbs explode into various shapes and colors, lighting the night sky. He hadn't even realized that this was the show itself, and was just about ready to head over to the source of the 'attack' to neutralize it.

Bulma had been prepared for that kind of reaction. Considering Vegeta's background, anything relating to explosives probably set off every alarm he had in that brain of his. This was only one of the reasons she had invited him to sit beside her. Tentatively, she reached over with the hand closest to him, and pat his bicep. Everyone else was too involved with 'ooing' and 'aahing' at the show to notice the two whom were tucked off to the side. For this she was grateful. The last thing she needed was Goku going on the defensive and unintentionally instigating a fight.

His arms were no longer crossed, and his hands were clenched into fists so tight that his fingers were turning white... But her touch sent a shock through his system, and his head twisted to the side to look down at the face of the being that dare touch him. He immediately seemed to calm, his hands unfurling from their fists, and his gaze lowering to the small, dainty fingers that curled around his bicep, then back up to her face.

_She's smiling at me.. I could have killed her for that, she knows it, too._ He thought, but was not given a chance to ponder the matter..

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" She motioned out towards the fireworks, that continued to explode in the distance. "There is a nationality here; the Chinese, and they took what was normally used in explosives, weapons, and made them into something to marvel at. Something to celebrate with." She let out a long, rather contented sigh, releasing the Saiya-jin's arm as she did so. "I love fireworks.."

He had turned his attention back to the colorful show, all the while silently taking in the woman's little history lesson. There weren't so many planets in the galaxy that had so many unique variations of the same species as Earth. He hadn't the opportunity to learn much of the species or the planet they came from, mostly because he could not yet comprehend the written language. He knew only enough to speak it, as it was all he required when he first came to the planet.

Then it dawned on him.. The woman, she could write the standard, could she not? Surely she could provide him with the information required, right?

"Onna." He said in a muted tone, earning him her attention as she turned her head, raising two azure brows in question to him.

His eyes shifted to look at her, while his head remained stationary. "I have something to request of you."

Now that's a new one. Not once since the Prince had arrived on the planet had he _requested_ anything. Demanded? Sure, in fact he was the most demanding, needy being on the entire planet, or so it seemed. What had she done to earn that sort of respect? "Well don't keep me in suspense, your majesty." She said in a playful manner that caused a burst of warmth to spread in his stomach.

"You can write and understand the universal standard." He stated bluntly. "Surely you can reverse how you gained that knowledge.." He was beating around the bush. Asking for things in any sort of respectful manner was not easy for him, but this wasn't something he absolutely needed, it was simply a curiosity of his, and he made it a point not to demand things that he didn't find to be a necessity. He just hoped she got the basic idea of what he was trying to convey. If he had to clarify it, he would likely put it in the form of a demand as opposed to a query.

Consider his prayers answered. "You want to learn to read and write the languages here? I can teach you that, no problem." She said, earning a grunt in response. She just smiled, pondering the idea that he actually had interest in learning about the planet more than what it can provide to him. There was always the thought lingering in the back of her mind that he would do away with the planet after he obtained what he wanted, but perhaps if he had need to learn of the people and the cultures contained within it, he may one day hold some form of affection for what he referred to as a backwater planet, and at the very least spare it from his wrath. Maybe he'd find something of worth that would cause him to become as attached to the planet as she was.

_Maybe he'll even stay.. _She stopped mid-thought.. _Wait, do I really want him to stay? That's crazy, right? Bulma Briefs, you are insane._

She wasn't going to press upon him a schedule, she knew what was most important to him, and if she was to appease him she wasn't going to pick a fight at a time like this. "Just let me know when you've got time. I'll see what I can do about producing some material for you to study. I'll just need some time to go over what I've got and put it in a manner people other than me can understand."

Vegeta wouldn't argue that, he had caught her father complaining of her notes being absolutely impossible to comprehend. It was as if she wrote everything in her own special code, and not even her own sire and dame could decipher it. He simply nodded in reply, turning his attentions back towards the illustrious show in the distance. He had to hand it to the humans, this was actually fairly entertaining in its simplicity.

* * *

Set apart from the others, it was as if they were in their own little world, the sounds of the other guests' chatter, and even the cooing of Bulma's mother had dissipated into little more than barely-audible background noise, leaving just the two of them to what had become a very comfortable silence. The sights, sounds, and even smells were welcoming him. He always tended to enjoy the scent of the fairer sex, but Bulma's always seemed to be a bit stronger to him than the others, and altogether more comforting, maybe even somewhat appealing.

He was honestly surprised that the day hadn't been completely sour for him, despite the presence of the guests. Perhaps a temporary respite from training had been somewhat therapeutic to him. He hadn't even noticed when the woman had shifted her position, and rested her back against his side. He had been focused on the fireworks, as well as his thoughts. None of Bulma's guests seemed to notice or care either, and they were both content to have it that way.

Time passed, Bulma's friends were tiring out, and slowly but surely they left, saying their goodbyes without commenting on their friends' choice of companionship for the evening, until all that was left was the two of them, and the silence of the night.

For once, Bulma didn't have much to say, this unspoken truce they had somehow formed for the day giving them both reprieve from the stresses of everyday life. They were quiet, save for the occasional comment from the young genius, occasionally earning a grunt from her company.

"Hey, Vegeta." She addressed her companion. He said nothing, but did incline his head slightly in her direction as if to indicate she had his attention.

"I wanted to thank you, you know, for coming." She turned her head to study his expression as she spoke. "I know you must have been put way out of your element, but it was.. Nice having you."

He was certainly pleased that she had waited until they were alone to say that, but it didn't stop the subtle shade of pink from rising on his cheeks, though it was too dark now with the lack of a moon and the fireworks long since coming to an end to be noticeable. Add that to the growing list of things he was thankful for.

"Don't think for even a minute that it'll become a regular thing." He stated bluntly, almost surprised when he felt a chuckle bubble up from the woman, whom was still very comfortably leaned against him.

"Leave it to you to ruin a perfectly good moment." She was very obviously teasing, but the good humor momentarily tugged the corners of his mouth up in the most subtle of smirks, quickly dissipating as soon as it had appeared, but it hadn't been lost to her.

"You should.. Smile more often.." Her voice seemed a lot more quiet and sluggish now, indicating that she was likely falling asleep.

"Onna.." He stated, craning his head slightly to look at her face... "Onna.." The Prince repeated, noticing only then that her eyes had lulled shut, and her smile had faded into a rather serene expression. Despite the fact that it was rather nice to be able to take in the beauty of the woman without having to put up with her ear-splitting voice, he was now in a rather awkward situation.

_Great, this is what I need. I should just leave her here in the grass... But I would never hear the end of it from her or her horrible mother._

This was a predicament. Either risk his pride, or risk his hearing. In the end, his pride lost the battle, and he gathered the sleeping woman in his arms, choosing to fly unto her balcony and deposit her in her room that way as opposed to carrying her through the house and risk getting caught by her nosy mother, who always seemed to show up at just the right moment.

Surely tomorrow things would return to normal. No guests, no fireworks, no bonfires, and no foreign emotions. The thought comforted him and his need for familiarity as he headed back out to the balcony, gently shutting the french doors behind him, before flying back down to ground-level, and opting to take the route to his own room by foot, as a means to cover his tracks.

Thankfully, he did not encounter anyone on his way up, but he figured better safe than sorry. At least for the time being his pride was in tact, and he only hoped that the woman would not figure out how she managed to get into her room. After all, she managed to intoxicate herself on more than one occasion and somehow managed to make it to her room and not remember how she did so the next morning.. While she hadn't been drinking at all this particular day, she certainly had seemed to wear herself out with all the excitement of her little party, maybe she would figure she was just too tired to remember it.

_Wait, why am I even dwelling on this? It's not like I care. I just don't want to hear it from her or her dame, that's all. _He assured himself as he went about his own evening ritual, which involved little more than some push-ups, a shower, changing into his night clothes, and crawling under the covers to allow sleep to finally take him.

_That's right.. Tomorrow it'll all go back to normal._

_

* * *

_

Author's note: Oh yeah, party's over! Hope you enjoyed the one-day truce.


	6. Chapter 6

Well, here we are again. I tried to tell myself I'd stay away from the keyboard for a while, but alas, I could not. I'll do myself a favor and create a few chapters of buffer to protect myself in case I get a horrible case of writer's block... Or I'll try at least. Each time I write a chapter I'm so excited that I can't keep myself from posting it. I'm pitiful.

I'd like to thank Volleys-chan for the plug on her story, The Setting Sun, which by the way is a fantastic in-progress VB fic, especially if you like a bit of tragedy and angst in your stories like I do. I'm a sucker for it. She's written what's essentially my favorite VB fic, Trusted Ones, so if you haven't read that, and you're looking for a good long read, check it out!

Also, I see a bit of people telling me I have minor capitalization problems. Somehow I wish Open Office Writer recognized nouns and the need to capitalize them. I proofread but sometimes it just slips between my fingers. Sorry about that guys! I'll eventually get around to fixing the little mistakes I make.

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or any of the characters.

* * *

Chapter Six

* * *

Well Vegeta had been mostly right. The day after the party, life in the Briefs household seemed to have returned to normal. The routine of comforting familiarity had resumed, which stroked the militaristic lifestyle he was so accustomed to.

This particular morning he had stopped by the laboratory after breakfast, but prior to beginning his training, and entered the room in which the woman and her sire was located, where they had been busying themselves with some sort of project that certainly didn't benefit him at all. He didn't seem at all surprised that the two of them were so wrapped up in their task that they had not even heard the door swing open, and click shut as he entered the room.

He said nothing, and did nothing other than deposit an armful of metal scraps unceremoniously unto the floor, which were very clearly the remains of the battle bots he had destroyed the day before.

At the sound of metal crashing against the cement floor, both Bulma and her father spun in their chairs, startled by the sudden racket. They were silent for a good few seconds, taking a few moments to properly process what it was they were looking at.

"What---" Bulma began to say, but cut herself off by her own train of thought. What else would Vegeta be doing in their lab other than to request something training-related? It hadn't been the first time he had done this, but the least he could do was announce his presence in a means that didn't frighten the daylights out of her.

"That's all that's left of them, huh?" Dr. Briefs was the first to make a coherent statement, as he rose from his seat and moved over to the heap of scrap metal, picking up a piece or two to examine it. "Looks like we overestimated how much time it would take you to finish them off." He commented, mostly to himself.

"I also will require an upgrade to the max gravity capacity of the chamber, and soon. 700 times gravity will not be sufficient for much longer." The Prince stated bluntly, folding strong arms over his bare chest, and turning up his nose at the old man. The woman's father never seemed to care how Vegeta spoke to him, after all, no matter how much he would hate to admit it, Dr. Briefs, or hell, the entire briefs family had the advantage of knowing that he could not accomplish anything without their aid.

Bulma had actually been somewhat stunned at the situation. Every time he had brought broken devices to him, for the exception of the time he attempted to use the chamber a few days ago before all the repairs were done, was at night. That way they had some time to either create new ones or repair what was left of the ones he hadn't destroyed completely. He could not have possibly destroyed all the bots so early in the morning.. As far as she knew, he had only just left the breakfast table, which meant he had to have destroyed them yesterday.

_Yesterday... Yesterday was the party.. _She pondered.. _Did he actually do something considerate? _Had he actually allowed her to have a day to herself without him interjecting with his training demands? Her head canted to the side in thought, the tip of her pen rapping repeatedly against her lips as she wrapped her mind around that realization. It was probably the sweetest thing he had ever done, heck, it was probably the only nice thing he had ever done aside from his awkward attempt at consoling her after her fight with Yamcha.

Both males in the room had been expecting her to explode in her usual tirade, and Vegeta's head was already leaned back slightly in preparation for the ear-shattering shrieks that were sure to spout from the woman's mouth at any second, but instead, they were greeted with a very soft, effeminate chuckle.

"All right, all right.. Vegeta, you're hopeless." She commented playfully. The two men stared at her as if something awful was growing out of her skull, as she moved over to the metal heap, and nudged some of the scraps with her foot. "There's not much here that father and I can use in terms of repairs, but we've got a few older models that you can use for now..."

She moved over to a shelf, and pulled out a surprisingly large plastic container, struggling only slightly at the weight, before setting it on the ground, and using her foot to slide it towards the prince. "These are going to have to suffice for now, OK? Father and I have to create entirely new models and that's going to take some time. Until then, please be patient." She requested, adding an all too endearing batting of her lashes. He had done something considerate, the least she could do was return the favor. Usually she just left him without anything to work with when he broke all of his little toys.

Vegeta was somewhat taken aback by her generosity and willingness to perform the tasks he had imposed upon her. While it was true that he had allowed her the courtesy of enjoying her time with her friends the day before, he had not calculated that she would have figured that little tidbit out. Then again, it was never smart to underestimate her intelligence.

He wasn't going to admit that he felt a pang of empathy for her after she had been so blatantly betrayed by her ex-mate, and the painful ailment that had afflicted her the day after, either. Even if the culture of human mating was different, there still seemed to be many on this planet who shared the mating for life attitude. He respected the fact that she was very discriminating about who she took for a mate, and she had obviously no longer seemed to entertain the idea that the weakling was in the running for such a position. Considering the smells the scarred one carried with him, that was definitely for the best.

"These will do." He stated, popping open the cover to the container and prodding around at the various older models that had for whatever reason been restored and kept in the labs without his knowledge. "But they will not last long."

_Thank you, Captain Obvious_ The young genius thought to herself, waving a hand in a nonchalant manner as she pushed past the stoic Saiya-jin, stopping only momentarily to turn to him and speak. "Better those than nothing, right?" She turned towards the door, stopping in the threshold, before looking over her shoulder at him. "When the new models are out we'll see about upgrading your chamber. We're going to need to create a new reactor so don't overdo it if you can help it, else you'll be stuck for a while with nothing to do." She warned, before disappearing down the hallway towards one of the rooms containing the supplies and research materials needed for the new task she had on her hands.

"My boy, I don't know what you did, but you somehow got on her good side today." Dr. Briefs stated, raising a hand to pat the Prince's shoulder only once, before following his daughter down the hallway to aid her in her new project.

Vegeta had felt it best not to look a gift horse in the mouth. As much as he wanted to make a snide comment about her falling into her rightful place as his servant, the fact that she had spared him the headache that always followed right behind her loud, high-pitched tirades had left him grateful enough to refrain. So, he gathered up the container and headed off to his training sanctuary to begin training for the day.

* * *

The day had passed without much , with Dr. Briefs and his daughter absent for both lunch and dinner, which was not an usual occurrence. They often had their meals in the sanctity of their labs when they had a lot on their plates, and despite the fact that Vegeta had been left _alone _with Bunny at two out of three meals, he hadn't complained only because they were down there for the sake of his own needs. If it meant dealing with Bunny's awkward comments and uncomfortable flirting then so be it. Nothing a few hours of physical abuse in the form of training could not fix.

It wasn't until he had shut down the Gravity Chamber for the night, sometime around eleven o'clock at night that he had noticed something somewhat out of place. While he could clearly sense that Dr. Briefs and that insufferable woman he called a mate had retired for the night, what had struck him as unusual was the fact that Bulma still seemed to be down in the sub-level laboratory.

_Surely she cannot still be working on the bots? They've never taken more than a day to complete. _The Prince pondered to himself, throwing a towel over his bare shoulders as he entered the compound, and descended the stairs into the laboratory in an attempt to discover what could possibly be keeping the wench from her sleep. If she didn't sleep, she wouldn't be there to work on the gravity chamber upgrade the next day!

He noted on his way towards the room the woman was located in that the bots had been laid out on a large table in one of the many larger rooms, a bunch of automated machines performing various tests to their structure and programming, which indicated that they had already been completed, before finally reaching the door, very gently sliding it sideways into the slot it fed into, to reveal an incredibly unusual sight.

There were books and stacks of paper all over a rather large office, The small computer terminal located on the desk was buried, its screen barely visible. The woman sat in a large chair her elbow settled on the surface of the desk, and her cheek in her hand as she wrote feverishly in a thick notebook with the other.

To be honest, Vegeta hadn't ever been in her office. Hell, he was not even aware she had one. Most of the time she did all her written research in one of the engineering research labs with her father. She looked tired, but focused, her large azure eyes staring intently on her paper. Her gaze shifted occasionally to one of the books or a paper near her notebook, every so often turning a page or grabbing a paper from on top of one of the stacks.

He stepped over to the desk quietly, leaning forward to examine one of the papers that was perched atop a very large stack. Aside from a large mess of what he could only discern as chicken scratch, there was bits and pieces of characters he recognized as parts of the universal standard.

"Please don't touch anything." She said, not once looking up from her notebook. "I have everything in a particular order and messing with it will cost me hours of work." There seemed to be an almost neutral tone in her voice as she spoke, almost as if she had been pouring so much of herself into her work that there was nothing left to produce emotion in her voice. It was almost unsettling.

"Isn't there a better time to be doing this other than the middle of the night, Onna?" He inquired, withdrawing his hands and folding his arms in order to resist the temptation of messing with her work.

"And what time would I have, Vegeta?" She spat in that same, emotionless tone. "I work all day. I have very few openings in my schedule aside from meals and the time I usually spend sleeping. If I'm to get this done, this is when I'm going to do so." She hadn't meant to be blunt, just truthful, and she gave no hint of being confrontational about the subject, it was simply as she said stated. She had no other time to work on it.

She looked more than tired, she looked stressed. There was obviously something going on in her life aside from the workload that had sparked her need to work on this particular project, which was little more than a favor to the Prince. He had certainly not given her a deadline and would have been more than content to let her get more important matters of her life out of the way before tackling this particular project.

Every so often she would rap the tip of her pen on the surface of the notebook as she thought, before quickly writing down a few more words or phrases onto her paper. He just stood there watching her, before finally breaking the silence. "You'll work yourself into another illness, woman." He spoke in an accusative manner. It wasn't that he was worried, but if she fell ill she would be incapable of upgrading the Gravity Chamber anytime soon.

"Don't be silly, Vegeta. I rarely, if ever get sick and most of the time it's just my migraines.. And these days those are few and far between. I've gone without sleep or dinner plenty of times in the past." She waved her hand in an attempt to shoo him away. "Please leave, I can't concentrate with you breathing down my neck or reading over my shoulder. You'll see this stuff when I'm done with it, I promise."

The Prince's nostrils flared as he let out a snort of irritation, standing to his full height, and blocking the light from the florescent bulb in the center of the room as he spoke. "If you fall ill and hold back the upgrade of the Gravity Chamber, I will see to it personally that you pay for this." He wasn't going to let on that it was more or less an empty threat. If he caused her any sort of bodily harm then the upgrade would never happen, and hell, he would likely be cut off by the Briefs family altogether. This compound ant the amenities he was given was the only thing between him and a murderous rampage through west city, more than likely ending in a horrible gruesome death at the hands of a third-class backwater pathetic excuse for a saiya-jin. He scoffed inwardly at the thought. He had experienced a humiliating enough defeat the first time, and it was best to not set those events in motion if he could prevent it.

So, instead of pressing the matter any further, he left the woman to her work, and retreated to his room for the night.

* * *

Not only had her new project not effected the rate at which she completed her other tasks, but she had been able to continue this pace, all the while cramming in board meetings at the main Capsule Corp. Building downtown, to the point where she was rarely seen within the compound, save for late at night whens he finally retired for a meager four hours of sleep, or when she sat down for a very small, brief breakfast.

Over a month had passed, and Vegeta had simply accepted the woman's' absence from two out of three of the daily meals as the new norm. After all, she was one day to succeed in running her Fathers company, perhaps he had given her some new duties that prevented her from eating meals with her family. It didn't make much difference to him, but since it had become a normal occurrence to find her seat vacant at meals, one could only imagine his surprise the day he emerged from the Gravity Chamber, and entered the kitchen only to find her sitting there in her usual seat, quietly eating dinner with her family as if she had never been absent at all.

He stood in the doorway, taking in the scene before him. She looked rather pale, more than likely because she had been so busy of late that she had hardly seen the light of day, but the stress that was written all over her features that night in her office was still there, even as she twisted her head to the side to greet him with a half-hearted smile. He could tell even by her scent, and her body language. She had her lab coat draped over her shoulders, and her posture was slouched. At the very least, she looked to be enjoying her meal.

"I know you're incredibly busy, Vegeta, but if I could have a few minutes of your time after dinner, I'd appreciate it." She said plainly, before turning back to her parents, of whom she had been amidst a conversation with when the Prince had come in.

"So anyway, I'm going to stop going to the office as much for a while. There's been a lot of less than safe crowds hanging around since that fire." She had finished, shoveling a small mouthful of chicken into her mouth.

"Oh dear, that fire was awful! It took out over half of West City. Those poor people without homes! I wish we could produce capsule houses fast enough, but the board has been awful about donating them." Bunny replied in a somewhat worried tone.

Vegeta had not heard of the fire, but he smelled the smoke and noticed the sky had darkened the day it occurred only a few days prior. Hell, even now he could smell the smoldering remains of the part of the city that had been hit. It had actually dulled his sense of smell for the first day or two, considering he could smell nothing else.

Not that he was particularly interested in the troubles of humans, he was well aware of most species' reactions to any sort of natural disaster or state of emergency, and this race didn't seem to be much different. What was implied was that there was violence going on, and the main office was apparently no longer safe. Was she trying to help them? The very same people who were making her workplace unsafe with their looting, shooting, and rioting? Was this why she was stressed out? He could not understand humans and their need to help those who obviously did not deserve it. He scrunched his nose at the thought of the filthy creatures that he had seen on the television in passing. They were dirty, shouting, fighting with one another, breaking into establishments and stealing not only what they needed to survive, but frivolous things like electronics, jewelry, whatever they could get their hands on in the name of greed.

It wasn't his business what the humans in the city did so long as it didn't effect him at all... Right?

The conversation shifted to various topics ranging from the politics involved with running such a large corporation, right down to their newest inventions, her mother chiming in once in a while with a comment or compliment, but lending nothing significant to the conversation. Eventually, Bunny stood from the table and began gathering the dirty dishes to be loaded into one of the dishwashers located within the main kitchen. Dr. Briefs was the next to leave, opting to find his way to the bedroom to wind down for the day.

Bulma finished minutes later, her mother swooping in to claim her dirty dishes before she had even a chance to clean up after herself. Instead of moving in the direction of her laboratory, she had headed towards the living room, stopping in the archway to look back at Vegeta. "I'll be in the study upstairs." She stated, giving him a rather stern expression as if to tell him he better not keep her waiting, or worse yet not show up altogether, before disappearing up the stairs that were just beyond the living room.

Vegeta sneered at the woman as she left. _The audacity of that woman! How dare she assume that I'm at her beck and call! She is the servant woman! Why should I be expected to entertain her? I should go up there just to give her a piece of my mind. I've been much too lenient on her lately. It's time she knew her place! _But he couldn't decide whether or not he was more upset at her demands, or the fact that she had been all but ignoring him for the past months, only affording him a few curt words whenever he showed up with broken bots or any other sort of demands.

He quickly finished up his meal, and silently abandoned the mess of dirty plates for Bunny to take care of. He effortlessly made his way up the stairs, following her very distinctive ki signature to the study, yet another room he never bothered going into. He was greeted with a rather heavy-looking door made of some sort of solid dark-colored wood. He turned the strange handle, and pushed the door inward, revealing what looked to be a very large office, though significantly cleaner than the one that he had seen down in the labs.

There was a couple of couches located in one area, with a coffee table situated between them, a large bookcase towering against the wall, filled with all sorts of science, history, philosophy, as well as any other sort of educational material that the family of geniuses fancied.

Bulma sat in a large leather chair that seemed to dwarf her diminutive stature, situated behind a large solid wood desk, which was well organized, with a few books closed in the center of it. She offered him a very pleased smile as she stood up from her seat, motioning towards one of the couches with one hand ,while the other began stacking the three books together. She gathered the books into her arms, and moved over to one of the couches, settling down on it, and setting the books down on the coffee table.

It was quiet in there, and it smelled of.. Well what Vegeta could only describe as old things. He had picked up the word from Bunny once or twice.. Antiques. Bulma's parents adored them, and this room was full of them. Even the door wreaked of it. Not that it was a bad smell, it was just very distinctive. The telltale scent of aging, as if each item documented its' very history in the scents it carried.

He had all but forgotten his resolve to chastise her for her attitude as he sat down on the couch across from the blue-haired heiress, his gaze shifting down to the three books, which lacked a title, and only had a few numbers scribbled on the front, before looking back up at the woman in question.

"This took longer than I expected. Some of my research was out of order and that was my fault." She stated, picking up the first of the three books, and holding it out for him to take, which he did.

Inside was a plethora of words, phrases, definitions, even explanations on the complex order of speech of the language he knew only how to speak. It was all in her handwriting. Not a single thing was produced through electronic means. Each pen stroke was fluid and deliberate, not a single mistake on any page he examined. He ran a thumb along one of the pages as he pondered the amount of work she had to have put into this, considering there were three books worth of text, and none of them were short by any means.

"This is only for this language. There's various different types of written script for this language, so I made sure to define them all and when and where it's appropriate to use them. Once you've got a grasp on that, should you desire to learn any of the other languages we speak and write here on earth you can let me know. I can obtain the proper material for you to learn with."

He honestly hadn't expected something quite as extensive as this. Whenever he thought he figured out the limits of her intelligence she managed to produce something twice as impressive as her last. One would think that simply being a linguist was nothing to be proud of, but the universal standard was by no means an easy language to learn, and she had done so with little more than one piece of intergalactic technology and her wits.

The Prince said nothing as she spoke, staring intently at the text written on the pages, though not necessarily absorbing what was on the pages.

"Uhm.." For whatever reason, she seemed rather apprehensive.. Not that she was frightened of him, it was more like she was somewhat unsettled by the fact that Vegeta had not said anything.. "If uh.. If there's anything else you need, if there's something that doesn't make sense, let me know. I tried to make it as easy to comprehend as possible." She paused, before specifying. "I'm not saying this to make you feel stupid, but I know how much your time is important to you, and any time wasted trying to figure something out that doesn't make sense isn't worth anything to you, I'm sure."

He hadn't necessarily been offended by her statement, but he did knot his eyebrows together at her, setting the book down in question as she finished her little speech. It was amazing how easily she had him figured out. She had obviously put so much effort into putting everything into these books so that he didn't _have _to rely on her being there to learn, which was what he had originally expected. But it was nice that he would not have to work around her schedule, or otherwise fight with her to make her rearrange hers to better suit him.

"These will do fine, Onna." He stated bluntly, his cold scowl not once betraying the emotions he felt boiling up from his core. Not once in his lifetime had anyone put so much effort into something, even risking their bodily health, for him. It wasn't something he had demanded, or even pressed a time frame on, she had done this because he asked her.. Because she wanted to.

_Because she wanted to do something nice for me. But why?_

He had been so lost in thought that he hadn't noticed her standing, and moving around the length of the table to sit down next to him. When he felt the cushion of the couch descend slightly next to him, he blinked out of his reverie and looked upon the woman in momentary surprise.

From this short distance he could clearly see just how pale she was. Sure, she was normally rather pale, but much of the color she had once had was flushed out of her features. Not that she looked ghostly, but it was obvious she hadn't been entirely taking the best care of her self.

She had opened the first book, and began thumbing the pages, idly mumbling to herself as she criticized her own work, which was common for anyone in her field of work to do, but was interrupted when a very strong thumb and index finger grasped her chin, swiftly turning her face to meet eye-to-eye with the Prince that sat beside her.

"Vegeta, what are you-"

"What did I tell you about falling ill, Onna." He said sternly, turning her head with his digits, and closely examining the bags under her eyes, the lack of color in her normally vibrant features, and even the way her hair had been thrown haphazardly into a pony tail, which lacked the care and meticulous grooming of her usual hair styling.

A bright shade of pink found it's way onto her cheeks as she stood stark still, watching with mild fascination as he examined her like some sort of possession that had been coveted from him. "From... From what I recall, you said that if I fall ill and cannot upgrade your Gravity Chamber in a timely manner, you would make me pay, whatever that means.. Besides, I already upgraded the damn thing and from what I can tell, you haven't gotten anywhere close to it's max range, since we set it so much higher than our other upgrades have been." She reasoned, though still didn't move from her position in his grip.

"Hn." He grunted, tilting her chin up, then down, as if inspecting every last inch of her.

She heard herself say it, and she didn't know where it came from, or why. "You smell good..." It was said in a very hushed tone, as if it had been plucked right out of her subconscious. It shocked her, had she really said that? Her eyes widened in realization of what she had just said. Sure, he did smell good, there was something so unusually alluring about his scent that she enjoyed, but not once had she felt the need to just... _tell _him that.

He felt as if someone had just knocked the wind out of him. He immediately released her chin from his grip and reared his head back in shock, mouth hung open as if he wanted to speak, but could not articulate the plethora of thoughts that poured through his mind. "Wha-what, why did..?"

She brought both hands to her mouth, covering it in embarrassment, her hushed voice muffled by her fingers somewhat. "I don't know! I mean, I guess it's true, but I don't why I said it! Look, just forget I said anything! My mouth gets ahead of me sometimes. It didn't mean anything! I mean honestly, what a strange thing for me to think, right? Who says things like that to someone who isn't even wearing any kind of cologne! Chalk it up to me being a little tired and overworked." She rambled, and spoke a few incoherent words, before falling completely silent.

Complimenting ones scent may have been an awkward thing to say on earth, but it had an entirely different meaning amongst his species. As strange as it may seem to a human, but it was a commonplace amongst saiya-jins from one gender to another. It was more than just appearance that attracted mates, after all. Physical attraction was only skin deep, the biggest challenge was the attraction of scent, and females being few and far between were always the most critical of scents. There was no greater compliment or flattery than a female whom was infatuated with a male's scent, because there was no way to fake it.

But from what Vegeta could tell, humans did not have a strong enough sense of smell to become quite as attracted or intoxicated by a saiya-jins scent. His nose twitched and he inhaled through it, kind of an instinctive reaction to what she had said.

"You're not wearing that liquid scent." He broke the silence. It was true, most of the time she wore some sort of floral scent, or a scent that resembled somewhat of the blonde woman's' cooking, but today there was none. He could smell her. _Her and nothing else._. Whether or not she knew it, she had a very smooth, feminine scent. It was stronger than he'd expected, probably because they were within inches of one another.

"No I-- I Ran out and haven't had a chance to get more since the city was-"

"Don't wear it anymore." He commanded in a rather quiet tone, especially considering his normal talking voice, albeit somewhat guttural and raspy, was usually quite loud, likely due to the fact that he was of royalty, and it was expected of him to command attention whenever he spoke. But this voice seemed to have the smallest hint of need behind it.

He reached out with the same hand he had grabbed her chin with earlier, and gently grabbed a few azure strands that had escaped her hair tie, gently rubbing the locks between his thumb and index finger, bringing the ends of them to his nose to very deliberately inhale the scent, before releasing them.

Had Vegeta been drinking or something? Was he ill? Her eyes narrowed only slightly in confusion as she turned back to face him, surprised only briefly at the depth of his expression. Behind the normally intense stare of his, lay the depth of his confused state.

"Vegeta, what's wr-" Again, she was cut off.

"Quiet, Onna." That same hushed tone came again. He was at war with himself. How was it this pitiful little human could evoke such a strong reaction out of him? She had done much to appease him.. For what? Was she trying to make him happy? If so, then why? He was a beast, and in some form the murderer of her ex-mate, as well as thousands, no millions of others. Every touch, every little favor she did for him without him so much as beckoning her to do so brought forth the same foreign feeling from deep within the core of his being. On top of that, this feeling was now coupled with the allure of her natural scent.

He took her chin between his fingers again, and tilted her head to the side, before leaning forward. He brought his face close to the nape of her neck, and inhaled once more, much deeper this time, his body shivering momentarily as he did so.

She let in a sharp breath in a gasp-like fashion as he did so. Saiya-jins were such a strange species. Sure, she knew that they used their sense of smell far beyond what humans used it for, but this was beyond her.. However, from this distance, his scent was much more potent. He had been training, and the sweat and blood that had no doubt dried on his shirt had actually added to it's unique flavor. One would think the scent of sweat and blood would repel a woman, and normally she'd agree, but for whatever reason, it seemed to have the exact opposite.

She subconsciously inhaled, which even caused the saiya-jin to twitch slightly in surprise, before lifting his head. Her features flushed and her head swam in a semi-dazed state as the two made eye contact. It was like they were both on auto-pilot, their lips mere inches from one another, and so slowly they were closing in..

The sound of knuckles rapping loudly against the large door to the study broke them both out of their reveries, Bulma being the first to tear herself away before any real.. Contact was made between the two of them as she rose quickly to her feet, using her hands to flatten the material of her lab coat quickly, before clearing her throat.

She wobbled for a moment, giving a very clear sign that he had enough effect on her human senses to at least cause her to struggle with regaining her composure as she moved over to the door, turning the knob and pulling it open to reveal a very complacent looking Dr. Briefs.

"Hello there Bulma my dear. I just came to see if you had showed Vegeta here the fruits of your labors." He stated, at least seeming to be completely unaware of what had been occurring within the confines of his study only moments before. He didn't even wait to be invited. He just shuffled politely by his daughter and took a seat on the couch opposite a slightly flustered Saiya-jin Prince.

The Prince had grappled with the reality of the situation. He had growled loudly at the sound of the knocking, which was more instinctive than deliberate, and watched as the woman struggled to compose herself. It always seemed as if her Sire and Dame were experts at the delicate art of ruining moments and diverting conversation topics, which he supposed was half unintentional and half because they were in positions of power and therefore political by nature.

He shifted in his seat to face the Doctor, a single brow rising as the elder looked through the pages curiously.

"Bulma my dear, you've outdone yourself this time I think. Did you know, Vegeta, that she hadn't even bothered to try and teach me this language? I can't read her notes after all." Dr. Briefs watched as his daughter sat down at his side and he pat her hands, which were neatly folded in her lap. "Dear, you should consider putting this in print, so at least some of us can understand if any other species of alien comes to visit our little planet."

Bulma had already recovered, and simply threw her head back, threading her fingers together and grasping her right knee, which was slung over the left. "Ooh no, at least not for a while. I think I'm done deciphering languages for a long time." She paused, before standing from her seat. "Anyway, I'm going to bed, I think a full nights' sleep will do me some good, I haven't had one in weeks." She stated, moving towards the door, before waving and mumbling a goodnight to the two men who remained in the room.

Vegeta had finally gathered his bearings enough to speak, but not before catching the strangely threatening expression on the elderly mans' features. "Her work is... Impressive." He stated. "I should have no trouble learning the written text here, as well as the others."

Immediately the old mans' expression brightened, and he shut the book, before standing to his full, yet diminutive height. "That's because my daughter is one of a kind. A genius, even to my standards." He cleared his throat. "She is very precious to me, Vegeta." He said somewhat sternly, giving the words a somewhat mixed meaning, before he too departed from the study, leaving behind a very confused Prince.

He sat there in the study alone for quite some time, trying to formulate a reason behind everything that had just transpired, but again and again he came up with nothing. _That woman is nothing but trouble. Why does she effect me so? Have I spent so much time on this mudball that I am finding myself attracted to a human?_

Well, it wasn't as if he had many choices, given that his planet had been gone for decades now, and his species was more or less extinct. But it was more than that. She was different. Intelligent, spirited, strong-willed, and on top of that, so beautiful it was almost intoxicating.

What had her father meant? Surely he could not have known what had gone on between them. Wait, NOTHING happened, right? He had interrupted it, which may or may not have been a bad thing. There was certainly something to the two elder Briefs that he could not quite put his finger on.. Or maybe he was just crazy.

_I'll have to watch myself. This is getting dangerous to my sanity._

_

* * *

_

Author's note: Oh yeah, I went there. This is just the beginning folks! Strap yourselves in, the next few chapters are going to be fun!


	7. Chapter 7

Okay, so I've started going back to my older chapters and fixing some of my little mistakes. There were a couple of continuity errors as well which have been remedied in the first few chapters.

I am very pleased that you guys seem to be enjoying my story. I was very wary about producing this story because I wasn't sure how people would take my ideas. The fact that I haven't gotten completely torn apart for my ideas is pretty inspiring. Thanks guys!

Also, just for the record, listening to the glee soundtrack while writing is a perfect way to keep myself motivated.

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or any of the characters.

* * *

Chapter Seven

* * *

After such an awkward night, Vegeta had all but locked himself away in his Gravity Chamber. He came out for meals, and to sleep. He even began using the shower in the Gravity Chamber as opposed to the one in his room. It was very obvious that he had turned himself into somewhat of a recluse as a result of the events of that evening. He never was good with dealing with matters outside of his very limited social upbringing, and that had been well beyond his boundaries.

Again and again he'd go over the nights' events in his head, not once coming to a conclusion that made sense as to why he had done what he did, and what caused him to act so irrationally. When he thought of her he felt his stomach knot with anticipation, and to someone who knew only death and the struggle of a battle, it was almost frightening. He didn't like the myriad of new emotions that had begun to sneak up on him as of late, and it was one of the many reasons he buried himself away.

He figured that the more time he spent training, and the less face time he had with the woman, the sooner he could bury the unfamiliar and 'unwelcome' emotions that had been wracking his consciousness. He had done well in avoiding her, especially considering her work had her quite occupied most of the time.

As time went on, however, he began to notice, much to his dismay, that the less he saw of her, the more she haunted his thoughts. The feelings didn't cease, and even though they seemed all the more intense the longer he avoided her, he was much too stubborn to submit. His pride wouldn't allow it. _The Prince of all Saiya-jins cannot have weakness! I feel nothing for that weak, pathetic human!_ He told himself more times than he could remember. It had almost become a mantra, something to push himself to.

He was struggling in more than just a mental way. It was as if the physical limits of his body had been reached, and it was over a week since he had made any progress in his training. He simply couldn't turn the machine up, his body would not comply, it would not get stronger, and not for a lack of trying. It was as if he was standing behind a locked door, and could not figure out for the life of him where the key was to opening it. Something was missing, something important.

Maybe it was what happened that night, or maybe it was because he had spent entirely too long on this backwater planet, or it could simply be something else entirely. He was getting frustrated with himself, with the machine, with the woman who constantly tried to intercept him. It was getting harder to dodge her. His muscles ached in a way he was not familiar with. It was disheartening to notice these limits, and admit that in a small way, he had them, and could not find how to surpass them as easily as he had in the past.

Bulma had not lingered on the events of that night for very long. She had chalked it up to possibly them being stressed out.. What with her and her overbearing workload and him with the ever looming fact that someone well under his station had surpassed him in strength, and taken from him the one thing that should have been his by birth. Oh, she understood, and she wasn't going to deny the fact that she felt for his struggle. His pride was his greatest strength and one of his biggest weaknesses.

That didn't excuse him for his behavior of late, however. She had gotten the clue that he did not want anything to do with her now. Perhaps he was angry with her? Or maybe he really did hate her, which wasn't beyond the realm of logic. This was Vegeta, after all. He hated a lot of things, and she certainly gave him a run for his money on more than one occasion, pushing the limits of his patience.

She didn't have time to linger on thoughts like that for too long. While it was sad that he had seemed to all but deny what had _almost_ happened that night, it was probably best to remain that way. Nothing happened, and nothing ever would, right? He was a murderer, after all. The one who took her ex from her, the one who even took the life of his own loyal subordinate.

Still, how dare he ignore her! It was as if they were back to square one, or worse! He wasn't even granting her his usual nasty attitude and sharp tongue. Had there not been so much going on in her life, she would have gotten bored with life at the compound.

Alas, with the tragedy that had struck the city, she had no time to ponder her current and former standing with the Prince. Half the city was still charred remains, the survivors and their families had degraded into criminals, no doubt to survive, and despite her best efforts, the board would not comply with hers or her fathers' wish to help them. They had more than enough resources to produce enough capsule homes, supplies, and vehicles for every family that had been effected, but when it came to money and old, greedy businessmen, it was going to be a struggle.

She worked day in and day out, half of her day spent in a small board room within the compound, arguing via satellite with the board and their refusal to comply with the needs of the very people that made them rich. Even Bunny was getting stressed at the current state of her lovely city, and though she did not show it, she was definitely keeping on top of the status of the negotiations.

Her father was the president, sure, but he had long since left the task of the business aspects of the corporation in her daughter's hands. If she was to learn how to properly run the company, he could not be there to help her negotiate. She had to learn how to do so on her own. He had tried to give a word or two of encouragement, but found himself instead just burying himself in the lab, trying his best not to stick his nose into things.

Over and over again Bulma told her parents that she could handle it, that she could think of a solution. There was little to no help coming from outside sources, and she was getting to the end of her rope. She felt trapped in the compound. Though she was an adult, her parents still were rather protective of her, and had hired the services of two rather large looking bodyguards who were there mostly to keep her on the property. It wasn't safe out there anymore, after all.

She hated being treated like a child, it made her feel like she could not take care of herself. She was not helpless, she knew the dangers that were out there, but had she not been in much greater danger in her youth during her adventures with Goku? That boy always had the danger fall right into his lap, and she always had the front row seat to it all.

No, she wasn't going to take this anymore. _I'm an adult! Who do they think they are insinuating that I cannot take care of myself? How dare they order these oversized gorillas to follow me around! I don't need to be babysat! _She fumed inwardly. Her parents were underestimating her. She wasn't about to be outsmarted by _anyone_, her family included!

* * *

She worked feverishly in one of the smaller rooms of the sub-level laboratory, her 'bodyguards' standing watch just outside the door. Heck, she didn't care if they were in there, it's not like they were smart enough to figure out what she was doing.

She had to get out of the compound. She had to get to the building to talk to those boorish, pigheaded board members face-to-face, or she would never get anywhere. How could a bunch of old, conservative men possibly take serious the face of a young woman who hid behind the walls of a compound? How could they see the level of determination in her face if she could not look them in the eye?

The need to confront them caused her very blood to boil. It was as if someone had flipped a switch, and she had become a different person whenever she thought of them. Her parents should have known better. She could be set off so easily, and when she was this determined, it was almost frightening. Like a madness had taken her, and no one was around to notice.

The plan was almost too perfect, and it had only taken her a week to create the device that would grant her the time she needed to escape. Now it was just a waiting game. She knew when she was going to do it, but she wanted to give her family one more chance to comply with her demands willingly before she set her plan into motion.

She had been skipping dinner lately in favor of working down in her lab, the one time of day where her father was not present to see what she was working on behind his back, but now it was done, and she had decided to grace her family with her presence at the dinner table.

Her father was buried behind a large blueprint, the sound of him quietly sipping tea and the ever present ribbon of smoke that snaked it's way upwards were the only signs that there was anyone even there.

Bunny was the one to notice her presence, squealing in delight that Bulma had finally joined them for their evening meal. "Oh Bulma dear! I'm so glad you decided to eat dinner with us!" She spouted, quickly hurrying to her daughter's side, and reaching over to fiddle with the woman's hair. She often doted on her beauty, and to be honest Bulma didn't really mind. She took great pride on her beauty and her mother usually knew how to make her look even better, without even really trying.

She swatted her mother aside after a minute or two, before finding her spot at the dinner table. She took note of the presence of Vegeta, whom was quietly consuming his dinner in his usual manner. She never expected him to actually converse, but she almost missed the way he used to toss idle insults in her direction. He made life so much more interesting.

She could tell by his posture, by the few times she did see him, that he was struggling. With what she was not certain, but he was obviously frustrated, and it was only a matter of time, she thought, until he snapped altogether. The thought brought a shiver to her spine, but before she could dwell on it, she was broken out of her concentration by the abrupt sound of her two bodyguards entering the kitchen.

She rolled her eyes noticeably, a hand idly lowering into the pocket of her lab coat, idly thumbing the object that had been the focus of her research for the past few weeks in a longing fashion. She wanted so badly to enact her plan now, those two gorillas were the bane of her existence. They were like jailers, chaining her to this place like a dog to a post. She couldn't stand the feeling of being restrained, it was maddening, and she did her best to stuff the frustrated expression that had only momentarily crossed her features.

Her throat cleared as she played with her food, fork in-hand. "Hey, so I was wondering if you'd reconsider.." She said quite deliberately. "I really think that going to the main building and being at the meeting would help."

She was cut off quite curtly by her father. "That's out of the question, Bulma. There is little difference between being at the board meetings via view screen and being there in person." He paused, just for effect if anything else. "The city is in shambles, we were lucky our office was on the side of the city that wasn't effected, but the violence is out of hand."

Bunny chimed in, in a eerily knowing tone. "Bulma dear, there's a really high murder and kidnapping rate, not even the main office is entirely safe. We just couldn't bare to see you get hurt! We're just trying to protect you from what's out there. It's a lot different than the average criminal, and you don't have your little friend to protect you this time!"

That struck a chord with her, in a bad way. For whatever reason, the fact that her own parents had insinuated that she was _weak_, heck, so weak that she couldn't even protect herself in her own home, had set something off in her that she didn't even know she had. She slammed her hands down on the dinner table and stood quickly from her seat, shouting in response. "I've been in danger much worse than what's out there, I'm sure. And look! I'm right here! HELLO!? I'm not a child anymore, Mother. What makes you think I can't handle myself? You show me no respect by having these oafs follow me around as if I'm a prisoner in my own home!"

She quieted, letting out a long, patient breath, before speaking in a much calmer tone. "I knew it was a bad idea to come to dinner. Excuse me." She said in an exhausted tone, setting her napkin down and leaving her dinner almost untouched as she retreated out of the kitchen, up the stairs, and into her room, her detail following behind her, as if they hadn't heard nor cared about the manner in which she had referred to them. No one said they were smart. She was using that to her advantage.

There was just so much going on in her life that was causing her stress, and her fuse had been shortened significantly as a result. Her parents simply returned to their dinner as if nothing had happened. They knew she was upset, they knew she was going to try and convince them to let her leave the compound, and they had been more than prepared for the tongue-lashing that had followed.

Vegeta had not so much as flinched during the entire debacle. It was none of his business. The woman was none of his business, and he told himself over and over he didn't care. He had finished his meal soon after, and returned to the Gravity Chamber to train.

* * *

_How dare they! Who do they think they are? _She though angrily as she began packing a small capsule box. She was not going to take this. She was not going to be pushed around, not by Vegeta, not by her parents, and certainly not by a bunch of old men downtown, who had more than once scoffed at her for hiding in the compound.

Carefully, she set a small metal object on the carpeted floor just in front of the door that led out into the hallway, depressing the button that was located on the side, before quickly stepping away. The small device released a single laser-looking light, that scanned the base of the door, before the light quickly died out with a small, barely audible beep.

Satisfied, she began rummaging through her closet for supplies. She always had a stockpile of capsules and other such things ready for an emergency, and this certainly called for it. She donned a Capsule Corporation jacket that was black in color, not to mention much too large for her, and a baseball cap, which was also black in color but had no logo or design on it. She stuffed as much of her long, azure strands into the cap as she could before wearing it backwards, disguising her appearance as well as she could.

The guards had set up a small alarm on her french doors that would alert them if she opened it. She wasn't stupid, she had noticed it, and it was that very object she was going to use to her advantage.

She waited until she heard her parents retire for the night on the opposite side of the compound, announced by the bodyguards whom were communicating with them. Once she was sure the two would be out by now, she made her move.

She gathered her backpack, and turned the knob of the french doors, stopping at the balcony. She turned, and watched as the two guards opened the door, and moved quickly into the room. She made eye contact with them for only a moment before a rather sudden, loud beep rang out in the night air. The two bodyguards' eyes went wide for a brief moment, before the two of them slumped to the ground.

She had created a very weak, but effective device that drained the ki levels of anyone who disturbed the object it scanned. It wasn't powerful enough to harm anyone like Vegeta, but to a mere human it was more than enough to render them unconscious until the device deactivated, which wouldn't happen for a few hours, giving her more than enough time for her escape. It would do no long-term damage. If anything, they'd wake up feeling like they had gotten a wonderful nights' sleep, if anything.

She grinned in satisfaction at her genius. She couldn't bring harm to them, she just didn't have it in her despite the fact that she hated their presence, and prided herself on the fact that things were playing right into her hands.

She quickly secured a small rope to the edge of her balcony and shimmied down it carefully, before withdrawing one of the two boxes of capsules from her pocket. She opened the container, plucking out the capsule of choice, pressing the button, and tossing it. There was the familiar puff of smoke, before revealing a small, but very efficient capsule car. It wasn't one for use in the air, but it was enclosed. The airspace above west city was home to a lot of military, and she felt it necessary to take the ground route instead of using a hover car or a chopper.

Taking a moment to make sure no one had been alerted by her actions, she quickly entered the car, and sped off, out of the compound and towards the main part of the city...

* * *

Vegeta would never admit that he had at least somewhat agreed with their parents' need to protect her from the evils that existed outside. The woman was small, weak, and for the exception of one occasion, she seemed entirely incapable of defending herself. Her ki levels were pathetic, as most humans were, and the only defense she seemed to have was that sharp tongue of hers, which may have worked on him on occasion, but for a delusional criminal, it would not get her very far.

He tried to tell herself that he was searching for her ki every night because he wanted to make sure he could avoid her, but that wasn't entirely true. Something pushed him to seek for her safety, though as of late he had been doing the searches less and less. It had actually been a few days since he had last done so.

Something didn't feel right tonight, however. It was like this awful feeling snaking its' way up from the base of his stomach, and leaving him with a lump in his throat that he could not swallow no matter how hard he tried. He had halted his training and expanded his senses, seeking out the very distinctive ki of the blue-haired harpy.

He had expected to find it down in the laboratory, or up in her room, and he almost stiffened when he did not feel her in either of those places. He began expanding his range, his breathing hitching in his throat as he soon began to realize that she was not even in the compound anymore. Further and further he expanded, until he finally located it.

She was almost downtown, and moving fairly fast. She had obviously found a way out, and was using some form of vehicle. He didn't even contemplate the overwhelming feeling of dread, or why he felt the sudden urge to seek her out; to protect her in some form. He had simply threw open the door to the Chamber, and took the the skies.

* * *

Downtown was eerily quiet. Various businesses were boarded up, though still technically open, their windows had been broken during one of the many periods of rioting, and had yet to be able to reinstall new glass. There was no one on the streets. The occasional car was parked on the side, some were stripped, some had broken glass, but most were fairly in tact. It was one of the very few lulls between riots, the small periods of reprieve, and it was why she had chosen tonight to make her way to the main Capsule Corp. Office building. She had brought enough supplies for an extended stay there.

She pulled to a stop less than a block from the building and exited the car, returning it to it's capsule, and tucking the capsule into it's holder. She carried no weapons, no means to protect herself save for her wits as she began to cautiously make her way towards the building.

The distinctive click of the hammer of a gun drew her attention to a figure whom had apparently been lingering in the shadows of an alley between what was usually two very reputable businesses. She had stopped in her tracks, and turned towards the source. It was a man, not much older than herself, maybe somewhere in his low to mid thirties. His eyes were sunken into his face, and his hands shook as they grasped the small weapon. He was dirty, covered in ash and filth, and his clothes were tattered. From what she could gather, he had been wearing some fairly fashionable clothing at one point.

For whatever reason, she didn't seem frightened, she just stared at him calmly, the capsule box still tucked in her hand as she did so.

His voice was strong, but trembled slightly. "You're coming with me." He said. He knew who she was. She stood out like a sore thumb even if she did try and hide her hair. No one could mistake that face, those large blue eyes, and the few strands of blue that fell from the sides of her cap.

She shook her head slowly, turning to face him, and placing a hand on her hip. "No, I'm not." She said steadily, careful not to make any sudden movements.

"D-don't move! Yes you are. If.. If we take you, we can get them to do something. We can show them we mean business. Too many people have died because of you." He reasoned, raising the gun to aim it at her head as if to reiterate his point.

Again, she shook her head. "If you take me, you'll only be hurting yourself. Look at you. This isn't you. You aren't a killer, I can see it in your eyes." She paused. "I've seen the eyes of a killer, and I can tell you're much too kind for that. You're just frightened, tired, desperate."

"S-Stop it! I've got to do this, my family needs help!" He shouted, his voice echoing in the empty alleyway.

"I know they are. A lot of families are. That's why I'm here. I fought to get out of my prison so I could do something about this, and if you stop me now, I'll never be able to convince those old bastards to help." She held out the container of capsules. "Take these. Take them to your family and tell them, and anyone else that _someone_ at Capsule Corp cares, and is going to make sure that there are more of these to come." She never broke eye contact with the man, as if she hadn't even notice the gun was there.

The man stared at the offering for a moment, then back up at the warm, sincere expression of the Briefs' heiress. His gun trembled in his hands a few moments longer, before he finally enabled the safety, and lowered his weapon. He reached out and took the container, opening it, and quietly examining the contents. The vehicle she had driven in on was there, as well as a rather well-equipped capsule house, and a few other amenities. It was as if she had been prepared for something like this to happen.

He didn't question it. He just bowed silently to the woman, and sunk back into the shadows. She smiled in farewell to him, and began walking once more towards the office building.

* * *

He had watched the entire thing, barely restraining himself from exploding towards the criminal. He was in shock of her, her calm demeanor, the very nonchalant manner she dealt with him, as if slapping the hand of a small child who had gotten lost in the woods. Still, the danger she had gotten herself into struck a chord in him that he just could not ignore.

He flew down to the woman, landing in front of her purposefully, arms crossed over his chest, and his glare baring down at her in an accusatory manner. He was infuriated that she had come out here, alone even! He did not even give himself time to dwell on why he cared.

He stared at her for a few moments, watching her stunned expression, and studying her as if looking for signs of injury before speaking. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Onna?" He spoke very sternly, and with a hint of anger in his voice that wasn't familiar to her ears.

She wasn't surprised that someone went after her, it was who went after her that had shocked her. She immediately went on the defensive. "What does it look like I'm doing, Vegeta? I'm going to the office to stop this madness!" She said sharply, narrowing her eyes at the offending male.

"You're foolish, woman. That man could have injured you. He could have killed you! With all your intelligence, you lack a speck of common sense!" He threw his arms in the air in frustration as he spoke , his cheeks aglow with a slight shade of pink, barely visible in the flickering streetlight.

"And so? Why should you care? Did my parents send you? What did they bribe you with to retrieve me, Vegeta?" She looked hurt, but not in the physical sense. There was almost a sense of betrayal written on her features. "You've said hardly two words to me since I gave you those translation books, Vegeta." She pointed a finger at him sternly to emphasize her point. "What is it, Vegeta? Is it that I have exhausted my usefulness to you, so I'm no longer worthy of your graces?" Why else would he be here if not by the will of her parents? She wore her emotions on her sleeve for him to see.

He twitched at her accusation, his gut twisting with the emotions he had fought so hard to suppress for the past month, reminding him exactly why he had been avoiding her in the first place. "Woman, don't be stupid." He choked out, before regaining his bearings. "Your parents have said nothing to me. They are not aware either of us are gone." He had said, attempting to keep his tone as cold as humanly possible, but he couldn't help feel his heart wrench at the moisture that was gathering behind her eyes. He could smell the salty tears before they even had a chance to fall.

She didn't even know why she felt so hurt, but with the stress she had been under she didn't really question it. It was all instinct. She did fell betrayed in a strange sense, as if she had been left out in the cold by him, and she couldn't shake the pain away. Still, she shut her eyes and let in a long breath, releasing it slowly and steadily as she took in his words.

Vegeta was many things, but a liar was not one of them. He had come of his own volition, and he had come deliberately to find her. She knew that, he knew that. "I don't understand why you invest so much time and effort, and risk your very life for that of criminals. Look what they've done to this place, Onna. Is it worth all of this trouble?"

She wasn't surprised by the question. She knew that he wasn't quite as versed in compassion, empathy, and understanding what caused normal, law-biding people to degrade to such a state. "Vegeta." She stated, taking in a breath. "They're not criminals. They're normal people who've been left with nothing. Nothing is familiar to them, and they're scared. They don't know what to do, and it's a shock to them. They need help. They aren't bad people, they're not monsters." Was she talking about the people in the city, or was she talking about Vegeta? She had tried to imply it in the way she spoke that he could relate to.

"I need to get to that building, and I can't leave until something is done about this. My father is wrong, Vegeta. Those old bastards aren't going to listen to me if I keep sitting around in the compound, hiding from the truth. Even THEY go to the office, and there's no reason I shouldn't be there too. I want to look them in the eyes and let them know that I'll release the devil itself onto them if they don't comply. That's something I must do in person."

He shut his eyes in thought, absorbing what she had said. He understood somewhat what she said about the people. He often felt that way when he first came to this planet, and he hadn't really thought of it that way. While he had no interest in helping people who could not necessarily help themselves, he had great respect for her need to confront the group of men she referred to. She had such fire in her eyes, an expression he likened to saiya-jins as anticipation before a great battle.

Still, he couldn't shake the feeling of her being in danger. "You should not be here alone. Even that building is not safe."

Her expression softened at the realization that he had in fact been, in his own way, worried for her safety. It was actually flattering. "Well then, you're just going to have to protect me, because you're about the only one on this planet who's not dumb enough to fall into the same traps I laid for my last detail. Am I right?" She said as she winked, setting a hand on his bicep as she pushed past him.

He turned his nose up at her at her audacity, but he knew she was right. She was too smart for her own good, and had so easily breached the security that her Sire and Dame had paid a small fortune to set up to keep her contained.. So, with little more than huff of irritation, he followed quietly behind her, silently impressed by her resolve.

He had been wrong about her. She was far from helpless. She had handled herself against that stranger with such confidence, and had even persuaded himself into being her new security detail, all without lifting a finger.

* * *

Author's Note: Woo! I liked writing this chapter. Some stuff's about to go down, can you feel it?


	8. Chapter 8

Rolling right along, we're at chapter eight. This is officially the most writing I've ever done of my own will. I'm normally not so creative, and to be honest, I don't even read books. The only books I have in my house are gaming magazines, I really don't know where this creative streak came from, but it's oddly satisfying.

Thanks you to everyone who's giving me support and advice. I'm new to the fanfiction world and I don't want to commit any fauxpas. Did I spell that right? Ah well. Remind me not to use that term in the actual story. My spell check doesn't know what to do with it.

The first three chapters have be edited to remedy some errors, as I said last chapter, and I'll be handing the next three in next couple days.

Like chapter four and five, this one goes together with chapter seven, and I felt it necessary to have the two out in a relatively short time span.

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or any of the characters.

* * *

Chapter Eight

* * *

The entryway to the office building was heavily guarded by police, but they made way for one very determined heiress, and whom she had introduced as her bodyguard, just so his presence wouldn't arouse suspicion or unwanted attention. She hated the media and crowds as much as he did, and the last thing either of them needed during times like these were a scandal. It would look bad on her, and cause the already weary masses to lose confidence. There was nothing worse during a disaster than something else drawing attention away from their dire need for help.

The night secretary straitened in her seat as she watched the determined woman and her escort approach, immediately alerting the security inside, as well as any of the executive within the building of her arrival, as was customary. "V-Vice President Briefs! How unexpected! I was told you would not be here until after the rioting has stopped!" She stuttered, shaking off her state of shock.

The woman was fairly young, possibly a year or two younger than Bulma, and for human standards were concerned, a bit on the eccentric side. She was large, but not fat, muscles hidden by the pantsuit she wore. In appearance, she looked as if she could likely break her superior like a twig with the flick of her wrist, a few martial arts plaques littering her desk. Her hair was short, even for men's standards, but her features were very feminine, makeup applied to her face with care.

"Obviously there is no rioting going on right now, Marie. It's quiet as death out there." She stated crisply, stopping at the desk only a moment to speak. "Turn on the power in the President's level. Schedule a board meeting for Ten O'clock in the morning, and make sure the board knows there will be hell to pay if any of them are absent." Her voice was steady, and somewhat intimidating, but the secretary had been to engrossed in admiring the menacing Adonis that followed behind the heiress to notice. Bulma was lucky the woman had heard her at all, and let out a rather startlingly low growl at the ignorant subordinate. She wasn't stupid, and she had caught sight of her ogling, which for whatever reason had been the cause of that very instinctive reaction. She knew jealousy when it reared it's ugly head but she didn't have time to ponder the matter.

The woman stiffened immediately, taken aback by the strange sound. She tore her gaze from the man to her superior, and cowered noticeably in her seat. "Y-yes Miss Briefs. I'll get on that right away. The access has been activated to the President's level. Have a good evening. Vice-President Briefs." She repeated, her gaze now fixated on the desk in front of her, as if she had actually been frightened for her very being by the wisp of a woman who now passed the desk and exited the lobby via a very decorated elevator, waiting for her company to follow suit before the doors shut together.

Vegeta hadn't been blind. He could feel the manly secretaries eyes on his person, and he could almost smell her desire, and had to resist the need to purge the stench from his nostrils with a snort, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention to himself. He never ceased to be somewhat stunned at the way the woman conducted herself. No other humans acted the way she did. None of them showed signs of any sort of real instinct, and he couldn't help shake the idea that something about her wasn't what it seemed to be.. But as quickly as the thought came to be, it vanished as the elevator dinged, and the doors slid open to reveal a rather impressive suite.

The first, largest of the rooms looked to be a large living room, a generous kitchen tucked off to the side, separated by a counter top island topped in black granite... There were doors that led to other rooms as well, but the entire opposite wall was entirely glass, overlooking the dreary city. Half of it, from this height, looked impeccable, while the other half was in shambles, smoke rising from various parts, and the remains of buildings dotting the landscape. It reminded him of purging missions, and was only mildly disturbing to look upon.

Bulma had deposited the backpack she had been carrying on a coffee table surrounded by large couches, and settled down one of them, digging through her bad silently as she did so. She looked so focused, concentrated.

Vegeta knew that there had to be some sort of living quarters in this building, because Bulma had disappeared overnight during her busier times on more than one occasion, however he hadn't expected something quite so luxurious, considering her bedroom at the compound was just as small as his.

"There's a bedroom through that door" She motioned nonchalantly with one hand toward one of the doors. "I know you like your privacy, so you can stay in there."

He didn't need coaxing. He disappeared into the offered room without so much as a word of thanks, not that she had expected any. At least with him out of the room she could work on her presentation for the next day.

* * *

Bulma was surprised by the fact that her parents had not sent out a search and rescue party for her. In all honesty, when they awoke to find two very unconscious security guards, and both Bulma and Vegeta missing, they had put two and two together. They had phoned her via video when the morning came, and were more than pleased to find she had gotten there more or less without incident, and that Vegeta had been so willing to stay by her side, even though she insisted that it wasn't necessary.

However, as the days passed, she began to realize that the board was not going to give in to her demands easily. Not only that, but some of them outright did not even bother showing up to the meetings she held. She was getting stressed out, and anyone around her for any period of time could see it.

She wasn't losing her resolve, it was more like she was running out of ideas. She was still determined to help, and the dismal view of the city ad night only gave her strength. Still, that didn't stop her from being on the verge of some sort of breakdown.

Vegeta would stay with her when he deemed it necessary. He never entered the board room, and he kept to himself at night, but he paid attention enough to her phone conversations and her ranting as she mapped out her plans for the next day's meetings to know that she was under tremendous strain. She hadn't been eating much, at least not nearly enough for human standards, and he could see the color leaving her. He wasn't good at comforting. Hell, he hated thinking that there were beings that needed it, without realizing that he had needed support more than once in his life in some way shape or form.

This particular evening had been taxing on her. She had finally convinced the entire board to what she had explained as their final meeting on the matter, having shown an admirable amount of strength when threatening them if they did not attend... But now that she sat alone in the living room of the suite, staring at stacks of papers, she felt the weight of the task at hand.

How was she to make them understand, or at least bend? Never before had she met a more stubborn group of men. She was well aware that they looked down upon her for being female, and it infuriated her to no end. She had been on the verge of outright punching them in their faces on more than one occasion, and even now her fists clenched with the staggering need to display violence towards them, even though they were not present.

"You're obviously taking the wrong path." Vegeta finally broke his silence. He didn't speak in a condescending manner, rather, like a teacher would a student, with an air of respect he likely had never showed her before. He was a Prince. Born to rule, and she was as close to royalty as this planet could get, but it was apparent that her Sire and Dame had not given her enough instruction on how to handle politics properly.

Bulma looked up from her work, fists unfurling and hands dropping to her sides in surprise. Vegeta had been mum for most of this debacle, and she hadn't blamed him. It wasn't his problem, after all, so imagine her surprise when she heard what to her seemed like words of instruction and support. "What do you mean by that?"

"You've tried batting your eyes and using your female graces to earn their favor, and it's not working." He sat down on the other end of the couch, his gaze piercing her as he spoke. "You tried to be respectful to them as elders, and you tried to negotiate terms. The time for negotiation is over."

She looked like a deer staring into headlights, completely stunned by his understanding of the situation. It wasn't that she thought he was stupid, it was that she thought he hadn't bothered paying attention, he showed little interest in the situation at hand.. Hell, he showed little interest in much of anything.. She needed to make a mental note to give him the benefit of the doubt a little more often.

"Well, what do you suggest I do, then?"

He leaned against the back of the couch, not once breaking eye contact. "Show them fear." She had been about to speak, but he lifted a hand and showed her his palm in an attempt to silence her before she opened her mouth. "Show them that you are better than them, because you are. You are THEIR superior, you pay their bills, they work for you, not the other way around." He paused, returning his arm to it's rightful place across his chest. "Show them that you aren't weak, and show them that underestimating you because you are a woman is the worst mistake they'll ever make." He spoke knowingly as if it was something he himself had experienced, which certainly was not far from the truth.

She nodded in understanding, actually opting to listen to him in silence. He was showing her enough respect to advise her in her problem, the least she could do was take him seriously. It warmed her to know that in his own way, he showed that he cared about her, and knew that she was having a hard time. Maybe it even showed her that he was beginning to understand why she was doing what she was doing.

"Every time I think I've got you figured out, you manage to surprise me, Vegeta." She said warmly, it was her own way of thanking him without making him feel too awkward, but it didn't stop him from blushing at least slightly at the implication of her appreciation.

"You know nothing about me, Onna." He stated plainly, but that didn't stop her from closing the distance between them on the couch. It was incredibly reminiscent of that evening in the study, though the tables seemed turned somewhat. He had done something nice for her, at no benefit to himself, for the sole purpose of helping her; of making her feel better. To make her happy, and in a small way, he had succeeded. This was the first time he had seen her smile in weeks.

She threw caution to the wind at that point, and leaned forward, placing a very timid kiss on his lips, mostly as an afterthought, a silent 'thank you', a sign of appreciation and affection. It was so brief that it had taken them both a few seconds to realize that it had happened.

He stared, stunned for a few moments, both of them unable to formulate words.. And he was the one to break the silence. "You've stopped wearing those scents.." He stated in a quiet voice, only now realizing that since that night, she had refrained entirely from applying the false scents. Had she done so because he requested it of her? The bright shade of pink that sprouted all over her features gave him the answer.

Whenever they were this close, it was like something took hold of both of them. Now that he was paying attention, now that he was not currently warring with himself over the things he felt, he was able to recognize her, her scent, and the way she reacted to him. She showed genuine interest, an almost look of swooning when they lingered so close to one another, and he hadn't actually realized that he had become the same way.

It was if something or someone pushed him, and his face fell forward steadily, but slowly towards her, eyes falling shut, and lips meeting with the opposing pair, though this time they lingered like that. Her own eyes closed, and she felt one of his hands rise to cup the back of her head and neck, cradling her in his large palm. Her own hands placed themselves on each of his shoulders, soft digits digging into the flesh for as long as the embrace lasted.

It may have only lasted no more than five seconds, but it felt like an eternity stretching between them, and as suddenly as the embrace happened, it ended, and the both turned towards the window, staring out at the remains of the city in silence. It was a silence that stretched between them for an undetermined amount of time, neither of them willing to acknowledge what had just happened.

Then, it hit her, and it was a welcome change of subject. "Vegeta, I have a favor to ask of you..."

* * *

It was a simple request she had made. Just attend the meeting with her as her figurative bodyguard. Stand nearby, and that's all he needed to do. Just be there. He was well aware that she knew how to conduct herself at a meeting with enough pride that he didn't need to provide support, but he had been so grateful for the tracks to change last night that he felt it impossible to deny her request.

She had provided him with clothes only slightly more fitting for his station. While he wasn't about to wear a suit, he did comply with her request to wear a pair of black slacks, a belt, and a black fitted tee shirt. She wasn't going to put him too far outside of his comfort zone, and for that he was grateful. She was giving him a task, and it allowed him to keep his mind off of the events of the previous night, which he really was in no mood to grapple with.

They were to be the last to arrive at the meeting, and that was on purpose. She had spent a lot of time on her appearance. A dark red, almost crimson colored women s suit was her chosen attire. The blazer had only two buttons, which were clasped under her bosom, showing off the beautiful figure she was always so proud of, and the long, knee-length skirt that matched clung to her hips in just the right places.

She didn't just look beautiful, her outfit, coupled with the look of utter determination made her look downright powerful, a look Vegeta hadn't seen before.

She was the one to open the large oak double doors that led to the meeting room, both doors swinging open quickly, which she had done deliberately to cause all the old men in the room to jump in surprise. She didn't show her satisfaction as she confidently strode through the room, Vegeta following quietly behind her, and stopped at the head of the table.

Vegeta stood off to the side, and did exactly as was requested. He kept his arms crossed, and looked menacing. That was easy enough, most people thought him as such without him necessarily intending to do so.

"Gentlemen." She started. "You know why I'm here. For the same reason I've been here every day for the past week." Her eyes grazed over the scrutinizing look of every man in the room. She was going to have to wipe those looks off their faces in order to win this fight, and she knew it. "I will give you one chance now to speak your side of this."

She sat down calmly, ready to listen to the same excuses they had been giving her every day.

"Vice President Briefs." One of the men cleared his throat. "You know we feel horrible for the disaster that struck the city. It's a tragedy, but there's already rescue efforts underway."

Another one chimed in. "It is not our responsibility to compensate for what the local government cannot provide. Things will calm down in due time."

And another. "We see no reason why we should risk such losses to our business by simply _giving_ these people such expensive amenities."

They went on for a few more minutes, and Bulma listened, her face hardened and unmoving, much like her companion nearby. She let them talk until they had quieted down. She then stood, and took in a slow, purposeful breath, before starting.

"I have had enough of this, gentlemen. Enough." She stressed that last word, laced with a bit of malice. "These are employees, these are consumers, and these are living, breathing people who have done nothing to deserve what has befallen them."

The men mumbled amongst one another, and she slammed her palms on the large desk. "SILENCE!" She barked. "You will be quiet and show me the respect I showed you by letting you rabble off your sorry excuses for lining your own greedy pockets." She sneered, here face etching in an almost murderous scowl, her canines bared momentarily in a very primal manner, something that hadn't escaped Vegeta, or anyone else in the room for that matter.

"First, I'm going to tell you who's in charge. Me. Not you. A woman who's young enough to be your granddaughter is your superior. Why don't you take a moment to let that sink in?" She paused for effect, and to revel in the shocked expressions of the men in the room. "Now I'll tell you why I'm in charge. Because I'm a _fucking genius._ That's right, _gentlemen_. It's not you who pays the bills here. I pay them. It is my inventions, my father's inventions that keeps this company profitable, and not your worthless politics, and I've had it."

There was not a peep from any single one of them. They all listened in horror, as if they looked at death itself as she spoke. "Now I'm going to tell you what's going to happen. First, I'm going to order the release of enough capsule supplies for every single needy family in the city. Second, I am going to donate the funds needed to help spark the economy here, and rebuild the buildings that have been lost, creating jobs for the people who have lost theirs. This is not negotiable. This is my decision, and there is nothing you can do about it."

"B-but Miss Br-" He hadn't even gotten a chance to finish.

"I SAID SILENCE!" She shouted, letting out a very primal growl of warning, her digits curling, pressing into the desk, gripping it in barely restrained anger. She seethed, but managed to bring her tone of voice down to a more reasonable level. "The last thing I am going to do is fire each and every one of you. You're all done here. My father left me in charge for a reason, because I can make good decisions based off of the morals he built this company upon, and I'll be damned if I let a bunch of greedy, sniveling old men take the the company in a direction we never intended to go."

Her glare was so vicious, so deadly that a few of the elders were nearly gasping for breath, as if frightened to the point where their hearts had weakened somewhat. The way she held herself was almost inhuman, and it was this purpose that she had requested Vegeta to be present with her. For whatever reason, she recognized that he awakened something inside of her, a side of her that he was somehow helping her unlock. A strength that she never knew she had, and she needed to draw upon it in order to achieve what she needed to do.

He would never show how impressed he was with her. Her mannerisms, the way she spoke, hell, even the way she stood reminded him of when he was young, watching his father and mother negotiate terms with other planets. Saiya-jins were a violent race by nature, but they didn't necessarily need to inflict bodily harm to do damage to their opponents, or obtain what they wanted. It was their presence that would often produce the desired effect of fear, of death, of complete loss of everything they held near and dear. Somehow, she had it figured it out, and she was using it with such skill that she had the men cowering in their chairs.

"Get out." She said through her teeth, her voice laced with such hatred that it caused a few of the men to shiver visibly in their seats, but they remained in their seats as if they had not taken seriously her dismissal of their employ.. A growl rumbled in her chest, getting louder, before she finally shouted. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY BUILDING!" Her hand crashed down on the desk again, and the sharp sound sent several of the men to their feet. They all scrambled to gather what belongings they had with haste, each and every one of them in too much shock to form words.

Bulma had apparently informed the security of what was to transpire prior to the meeting, and there were men in suits already waiting for the unfortunate old men as they exited. They had taken the liberty of cleaning out the their offices already, and their possessions were in boxes outside the building. Bulma hadn't cared if any of it got stolen. The security guards escorted each of them out without so much as a word of goodbye.

Bulma stood at the head of the table for a good few minutes, that same scowl resting on her features as she stared at the now closed door, as if daring any of them to try and come back in and plead their case. She looked as if she'd be more than happy to snap their necks with her own two hands. Her adrenaline was still pumping, and her breathing was somewhat heavy as she seethed, waiting for her body to calm down.

Vegeta watched her with interest. There was an unwritten rule to interaction with the opposite gender when it pertained to his species. When one saiya-jin took interest in another, they would do their best to show their strength to the target of their affections. He had seen humans behave similarly before, but not nearly as often, and it certainly didn't seem to be deliberate. Whether or not she realized it, she had done so for him, and he certainly was effected by it, in some way at least.

He felt a swell of pride when she picked apart the board members' resolve, shoved them in their place, and had damn near killed two or three of them by shock alone. All he did was give her a push in the right direction, and she had done the rest. She had not needed him there, she wanted him there to show him what she could do, even if she told herself she wanted him there for moral support. The meeting would have gone just as well had he not been there, and both of them knew it.

_Had she been born on Vegeta-sei, she would have been the target of every male Saiya-jin elite's attention. _Even royalty would clamor at her feet for a chance to have her, and it would be she that would have the power in choosing who was to be her mate. Not even the king himself would be able to take her by force. That's just how it worked, it was the one power the women of his kind had over the men. The women would find the male that had the most appealing scent, and who presented herself with the opportunity for the strongest offspring, as well as the highest amount of trust. The scent being the most difficult to overcome, as most women would find maybe one or two males in her lifetime that had even a remotely appealing scent, and most males would go their entire lifetime being celibate.

There was no lying to himself about this. With every little feat she accomplished, he felt more desire for her. He was helpless to stop it. This human was going to be the death of him, take him down a shameful road of pursuing someone of a much weaker species, and he hated himself for it, but for all that hatred, the desire was tenfold, increasing each moment she haunted him with the strength she continued to surprise him with. It caused the beast inside of him to howl and claw and long to claim her as his own, and it was a frightening realization.

Finally, he decided to break the silence. "That was impressive, Onna." It was probably the first time he had outright complimented her, but even as she calmed she was in no condition to swoon over the fact that he had done so, and that was probably why he had taken the chance to say it.

Bulma let out a long sigh, releasing the last of the tension in her body as she did so. This had been a taxing few months, and she knew that it had reached it's zenith. There was nowhere to go but forward from here. "It'll be over soon." She said calmly. "I've got to put my money where my mouth is now. I've got a lot of work ahead of me, but things are going to get better now."

Things were going to get better for the city, but for Vegeta, the battle for his sanity had only just begun. Even coming to the realization that what he felt was as real as the air he breathed, he couldn't shake the feeling that it was wrong. It's not what he SHOULD want. It's not worth having this weakness... Or was it?

* * *

Author's note: Yay angst? Only a little bit. The next two chapters are going to be exciting to write. I can hardly wait!


	9. Chapter 9

Is it bad that I'm fanboying over my own writing? Because I am, and that's really sad.

There's not much to say, I'm having a ball writing this and I'm really happy that you guys are enjoying it too. As always, I appreciate the support, but if you think there's something that I can improve upon by all means let me know. I'm not so sensitive as to not take constructive criticism.

These next few chapters are going to be pretty exciting.

I need to specify some of the changes I made to the first couple chapters. I took out any and all mention of the androids. I haven't yet decided if I even want them in this universe, or what role they will play if they are. It was a minor change, and I literally only altered about two lines, no big deal.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the next couple chapters!

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or any of the characters.

* * *

Chapter Nine

* * *

There was nothing more satisfying than watching those old men get thrown out onto the street without so much as a word of farewell. She didn't feel bad for them, hell they were rich enough from the company that they could live out the rest of their miserable lives in luxury, and that wasn't something she could take away from them, but as long as they weren't in control of the future of _her_ company, she'd be content.

There was a new task ahead of her now. She was going to have to create a new board of directors for the company. She realized now that what she had done had been for the best. The old board was handpicked by her father before she was born, and they had grown greedy in their position. The positions were long overdue for an overhaul. Why her father put up with such a lousy bunch of assholes was beyond her, but that was probably why he handed off the power to her, to do what he had not the strength to do himself.

She made her way to her office in silence, leaving the board room doors open for the cleaning staff to attend to, and settled down at her large desk. Vegeta had opted to retire to the President's level as opposed to accompanying her, since the security at the building seemed to be sufficient enough, and he highly doubted anyone was going to attempt anything now that she had addressed her station. At least there he could do some mild training, or at the very least some stretching. The last thing he needed was to become soft.

Hours upon hours, names after names she had stifled through, recognizing each and every one, most of them managers of various departments, and out of hundreds, only two were deemed trustworthy enough for promotion. This just wouldn't do. These managers, supervisors, and so forth knew nothing of technology, they were old, and didn't have a mind for progress like she did, like her father did when he was young. She had to be very critical of who she chose. She needed young people, people who had ideas, people who had morals that extended farther than their bank accounts. People who would not ignore disasters and sit idly by while the world fell apart around them.

It was then that it hit her. She knew exactly where to look, and it had been right under her nose the entire time! Quickly, she activated her video communication system, and dialed the number to her fathers' lab, which she knew he would be located.

"Bulma dear! What a wonderful surprise. I'm glad to see you're still safe. How did the meeting this morning go?" Dr. Briefs spoke in a tone depicting his delight at seeing his daughter. He even managed to smile behind that lavender mustache of his, a cigarette stuck out of the corner of his mouth, despite the fact that the smoke could pose a hazard to whatever it was he was working on.

"The meeting went well, daddy." She said, altogether feeling the daddy's little girl moment whenever she had accomplished something that she was proud of. "I fired them!" She said triumphantly, nodding all the while. "They were too busy trying to stuff their pockets, and something had to be done."

Dr. Briefs did not look the least bit surprised. He actually let out a very audible chuckle, and deposited his cigarette into the ash tray next to what looked to be a half-completed robot of some sort. "That's my girl." He said, waving a hand.. "I knew what they've been doing, they weren't the same men that I appointed so many years ago, that's for sure. They lost focus on what was really important, and I'm really glad you figured it out so quickly." He paused, before commenting.. "But now you're going to need new board members, hm? I assume you've thought long and hard about your options?" He inquired, reaching over to scratch the head of the tiny cat on his shoulder.

She hesitated.. "That's... Actually why I'm calling.. You see, I've been at this all day, and none of the managers here at the company seem to have the right heads to help run this place. They do fine at their job but it would be like hiring a bunch of clones to replace the last set, you know?" She tapped the end of a pen against her ruby colored lips, gaze lifting to the ceiling as she pondered. "I don't want the same thing to happen, I want people who've got a good head on their shoulders."

Dr. Briefs nodded knowingly, listening intently to Bulma, and studying the new found confidence in her expression.

"I'm thinking that perhaps some of the more skilled technicians at the lab might better suit the companies needs. I'm not talking a full board of them, but enough to offset the greed that may come from the executive branch. What do you think?"She looked so hopeful and expectant, like a dog whom was waiting for a sign that she'd done the right trick. As smart as she was, she still sought out her fathers' approval. He was her hero, her mentor, and she trusted him with her very being.

Dr. Briefs nodded. "I think you've got a good head on your shoulders, Bulma my dear. Besides, we've got lots of young scientists that have more than earned a promotion. I think this will be beneficial for all of us, yes? So why don't you send me the names of the scientists you wish to promote, and I will inform them today." There seemed to be some racket going on in the background, as all of a sudden the lavender-haired scientists was replaced with a very cheery blonde woman.

"Oh Bulma! There you are! Don't you look so pretty in that suit?" Bunny chirped excitedly. Bulma had kind of been expecting this, since she hadn't seen her mother in over a week now. "You look like you could take over the world! Oh but you'd never do that. How's Mister Vegeta doing?" She rambled. "I hope he's been treating you well! He hasn't stolen your heart yet has he? Oh no! He hasn't taken you to bed or anything? Oh how exciting if he did!" She clapped her hands like an airhead and bounced in her seat.

The look of shock on Bulma's face was almost humorous. Her entire face reddened at her mothers' outrageous accusation, and she feverishly shook her head. "NO, Mother!" She argued. "He's just here to protect me, that's all. He's done not much more than stand around or hide in his bedroom. He's a recluse, and you know it! What would possess you to think we've done anything like that?" She fumed, glaring daggers at her mother, who didn't even seem to notice or care .

"Oh honey, don't worry, I'm sure it'll happen someday!" She said, before being very gently shoved out of the screen by her husband. It was more of a playful gesture, but it got the point across. She had stolen his air time with his daughter!

"Ahem. Now, I'm glad to hear that the alien had been.... Behaving himself. To be honest I was half expecting him to have murdered a few innocent people by now." He said rather flatly, watching closely for Bulma's reaction.

Her features twisted slightly, as if she had been offended by his statement. She felt a knot tighten in her chest, and her eyes narrowed, barely restraining herself from yelling. "He's done no such thing, Father. He's been fine, and I think you don't give him nearly enough credit. He hasn't hurt a single person since he came to this planet. He's not a completely heartless monster! He was the weapon, but he wasn't the one who pulled the trigger, and you know that. Don't you dare say something like that again!" There was a very threatening growl interlaced with her words. She was obviously referring to Frieza's manipulation of Vegeta and the other saiya-jins that were under his rule.

She cleared her throat.. "Anyway, as soon as I make the announcement and the donations I will be heading back to the compound. It should only be a few days. Love you, dad." She commented, before cutting off communication. This had been a long week, and she knew it was only going to get longer. She still had a lot on her plate.

* * *

Vegeta had been bored, it was getting late and the woman hadn't returned to the suite. After spending most of the day in quiet contemplation, mostly reflecting on his time since arriving on the planet, and of course the more recent events that made him question he very sanity, he had decided to retrieve the overworked heiress. The Prince told himself that he wasn't concerned for her, and that it was just his duty, something he had agreed to do. He had been given the key card and ID required to traverse the entirety of the building, but this was the first time he actually sought to use it.

He quietly rode the elevator, grateful that there was very few people to pry at him at this time of the evening. The elevator opened up to a small lobby. The woman's secretary had left already, which was a good thing. All these females ogling at him was discerning. He had no interest in them, they were weak in so many ways that their very presence was an irritation to him. He only had mind for one female.

_Wait, what? Nonsense. I'm clearly going insane from being trapped on this mudball for too long._

The Prince pushed open the large double doors to his target's office quietly, the sound of a conversation immediately reaching his ears. From the sound of it, she was talking to that frightening mother of hers, so he quietly slid into the room, shutting the door cautiously behind him as he did so, and listened.

He couldn't help but sneer at the old one's accusation, but the moment was cut brief by Bulma's argument. The malice in her expression and the barely restrained anger in her voice was almost flattering. She had so much faith and trust in him and he hadn't even been aware of it. She spoke so highly of him, or at least higher than he had expected, to the point where she was defending his honor, and showing disrespect to her own Sire. The way she had been acting of late was more than a little unusual. Every little glare, growl, and primal reaction she made had sent his mind reeling in confusion. This time was no different. Something was different about her, and the cause was evading him.

He could tell by the color in her face, or lack there of, that she had skipped at least one meal, probably two, and he waited for her to disconnect the call to make himself known. "So you've spent your entire day holed up in this office, denying yourself meals, and you have the nerve to chastise me when I risk my own health while training?" It wasn't in his nature to be altogether pleasant, but he had actually been somewhat concerned. She had been missing a lot of meals lately due to her work, and he'd be damned if he let her get away with it.

Her head jerked up from the screen, but she didn't look altogether surprised. "I suppose I have been... Wrapped up in my work lately, yes. But I'm almost done." Even during her conversation she had been typing out the names of the technicians and scientists she had planned to appoint, as well as a few managerial types to fill in the gaps. She sent the message, and gave Vegeta a tired nod, before the two of them retired to the suite, neither saying a single word to one another.

* * *

It had been awkward between them. Both of them were somewhat unsure of what it was they had, what they meant to one another, and whether or not they wanted this thing between them to exist. Vegeta had turned himself inward again, hardly giving her a second glance as she milled about her busy day. It almost felt like they were empty shells around one another, afraid to acknowledge one another, afraid to get close enough to risk becoming intoxicated with each other.

The next few days were busy for Bulma. She had a press conference where she had announced the plans for Capsule Corp, to aid those that were effected by the fires, and apologized for the time it took to enact the plan, simply explaining it as an executive matter that would not happen again. She didn't feel it appropriate to admit that she had to fire her board of directors to get the results she wanted, and it wouldn't matter if she had. What mattered was that she was in charge now, and was making right the wrongs those men had committed.

While most people on the outside were irritable with the delays, all were happy to receive their free amenities, which included capsule homes, supplies, vehicles, and a number of other necessities. Things were going to be better, the people were given jobs, and the economy had been sparked as the people happily rebuilt their precious city. Even if much of it was charred and ruined, the outlook of tomorrow raised everyone's spirits, and all it took was the kindness of one woman.

After that, there was the promoting of her new board, the meetings that were meant as an orientation for them, and of course the number of requests from various senior staff in the company for her audience, requesting an explanation for not promoting them. She had told them quite plainly that it was the attitude and contempt they were showing her that had dissuaded her from promoting them. There was no way she was going to replace her board with the same, selfish executive types that were there before.

Finally, two weeks after she had left for the office, she was finally able to return home. This time she had opted to take the aerial route, heading to the roof of the building to release the capsule containing a small hover car, and returning home. Vegeta had already left a day ago, feeling it no longer necessary to be there, not to mention he had spent entirely too much time away from his training.

She had been greeted by many friendly faces, all of the companies' scientists that worked in the compounds lab having been more than happy to see her return, and two very proud parents.

"Oh Bulma honey!" Bunny rushed to her daughter as soon as she had exited the vehicle, and began poking and prodding her hair, face and clothing. "You look so thin! I hope you're hungry, dear, because I've prepared a special dinner just for you!"

She pretended to listen as her mother prattled on her plans for the evening, her gaze shifting through the small group of people that had gathered to greet her, before moving to the flickering lights of the Gravity Chamber. He had been on her mind a lot lately.. More than she'd like to admit. She wasn't going to tell him how disappointed she had been when he left a day earlier than she had. _He doesn't care anyway. _She tried to convince herself, as she felt her mother hook her arm with her own, and she mindlessly followed her to the kitchen.

"Mother, there's really no reason to make a spectacle of this. It's not a big deal." She reasoned, but Bunny didn't even blink.. She just continued to set out her favorite china on the dining room table, which was rarely used. Most of the time they just ate at the large table in the kitchen. It was obvious that Bunny had been so worried, that this was her way of showing her daughter just how much she missed her. Bulma let out a sigh of defeat. She found herself dragging herself up the stairs and to her bedroom, where she was able to get some moments of peace.

* * *

Sometime between moving around some things her mother had fussed with in her room back to their rightful place, she had collapsed onto her bed and had fallen asleep. It felt so nice not to sleep on the stiff couch in the suite at the office. Two weeks without her own bed was way too long, and a nap was just what she needed. All seemed right in the world tucked into her pillows, at least until she felt a hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle shake.

"Bulma, dear." A masculine voice said quietly. "Bulma, your mother asked me to get you for dinner. You don't want to keep us waiting, do you?" Dr. Briefs spoke only loud enough to alert her into consciousness, but seemed oddly cautious, considering the one he was talking to was supposed to be his own daughter.

"Mmm.. Alright.." She turned over as she spoke, sitting up slowly. "I'll be down in a few minutes." She reassured her father with a warm smile, patting his shoulder and shooing him out the door. She wasn't going to go to dinner in something she had slept in. Not that she had much time to beautify herself, she did manage to change into a comfortable pair of short shorts, and one of her favorite shirts, which resembled the one she had worn at her party so long ago, but in a different shade.

Descending the stairs, she was surprised to see all those present had yet to start consuming the meal before them; even Vegeta. All three of them sat patiently, and her mother was the first to greet her with a bright smile, pulling out a chair for her daughter to sit in.

"Did you enjoy your nap, Dear?" Bunny inquired, patting her daughter's back momentarily, before settling down in the seat beside her husband. "You looked so tired when you came home, after all, but you look so much more lively now!" She said cheerfully, before motioning towards the food. "And I made all your favorites!"

Bulma had sent a sideways glance to Vegeta, who looked just as irritable as he normally did, but surprisingly restrained considering he had a lot of food in front of him that he was not touching. She let out a rather awkward sigh, and began serving herself.

As soon as she began filling her plate, Vegeta began consuming his meal quietly, and her parents followed suit. It was eerily quiet, and Bulma had taken note of both parental units watching her as she served herself, as if analyzing her appetite in some way. Sure, she was filling her plate with more food than she normally ate, but it was understandable, right?

"Oh my my, Bulma, you look so pale! You need to eat more!" Bunny exclaimed, putting more servings on her daughter's plate, much to Bulma's surprise.

"M-Mom! Really! What kind of glutton do you take me for?" She argued in embarrassment, swatting the blonde woman's hand away after a few moments. Despite the fact that her dish looked like one during a thanksgiving feast, she still managed to finish it, and even fill her plate again, though not quite as much as before, quietly thankful that no one made any comments about it. The last thing she needed was someone prying her on her diet. She was hungry, and this was her first meal in over twenty-four hours. They should just be happy she wasn't shoveling it down her throat like Vegeta was, though she was hungry enough that she felt she could if she really wanted to.

Sometime during her second serving, Bunny had taken her husband out of the room, explaining to him that there was something she wanted to show him, leaving Bulma alone with her house guest.

"You're going to make yourself ill eating like that, woman." A voice came from behind a mountain of plates.

"I haven't eaten all day, I'm just really hungry." She rationalized, dismissing his accusation with the wave of a hand. "It's not like I'm inhaling my food or anyth--- Wait.." She paused, her head craning towards the door, and her eyes narrowing. "Do you hear that?"

He grunted, and set his eating utensil down. "Hear what, Onna?" He inquired with a snort.

"My parents... Are they arguing?" It was true, though the words themselves could not be discerned, one could clearly hear the muffled sounds of shouting floating from outside the compound. "They've never argued before... Something is wrong.." She commented gravely, and quickly stood from her seat.

Bulma crept quietly through the house, and stopped at the door that led outside from the kitchen. She could hear them a lot more clearly now, but whatever they had been discussing seemed to be winding down.. Still, she decided to eavesdrop what of it she could.

"I just don't think it's a good idea, dear. It's dangerous."

"It's not dangerous, it's what's right. We can't just keep burying it."

"I don't want things to turn out poorly. It's something we must think through thoroughly."

"I suppose you're right, honey."

Something about the conversation made her stomach drop, and she didn't know why. She felt as if her world was spinning, and she felt her knees buckle momentarily. For whatever reason, only moments later, a sort of rage began to boil within her, and her hands clasped into fists. She threw herself off the wall and began to trudge out of the kitchen and through the dining room.

"What's up your ass, Onna?" He goaded her purposely, but that was just the way he was. It was like a game they played, but it was still laced with concern.

"Go fuck yourself, Vegeta." She barked loudly, before retreating up the stairs and into her room, slamming the door behind her.

He blinked the shock out of his face. _The fuck? How dare she! _ He fumed, rising quickly from his seat, and stalking after her. He threw her door open, pointing a finger in accusation. "What is your malfunction, human? What gives you the right to explode at me in such a manner?" He had been at least somewhat injured by the manner in which she had spoken to him, but the only way he could show it was with anger.

Bulma's eyes grew wide at the furious saiya-jin whom had invaded her room, but quickly regained her bearings. She stood in silence for a few long moments, her hands uncurling from their fists as she leaned against the wall with a long, drawn-out sigh. "I don't KNOW, Vegeta." There came a pause.. "I don't know. I heard them arguing and for some reason, it made me really angry." She couldn't even look him in the eye... "They've never argued before, but that's not it. That's not why I'm mad."

He furrowed his brows in confusion. This woman made no sense. The female species was not worth this trouble. "What madness are you talking about?"

She shot him a half-hearted glare, before shifting her gaze out the window. "There's something wrong with me, Vegeta. Maybe I _am_ going mad." She admitted. "I feel like there's something missing, something I should have, but don't.. For some reason my fuse has shortened significantly in the past few weeks. I feel like I'm trapped somehow, and it's maddening." For the first time since Vegeta had arrived, she was showing a form of mental weakness. "It's like.. Like my very blood is boiling, I'm frustrated all the time for no reason."

He honestly didn't know what to think. It was all very cryptic, but what she said plucked a string of familiarity in him. Perhaps it was because she had been holed up in one place or another for months now. He moved to lean against the wall beside her, but remained silent.

"I used to wander all over the world, and hell, the universe now with Goku, and I guess it gave me a sense of freedom. But even then, something never felt right. The idea that there's something wrong with me that I cannot solve is almost embarrassing. And I know, you must think me even more pathetic now. Hell, you've been all but avoiding me ever since that board meeting. " She sounded offended. "What is it that I did that was so offending to you, Vegeta? Am I no longer worthy of your presence or something?"

He winced at her accusation, stuck somewhere between anger and emotional pain, and he pushed away from the wall, rotating so that he stood before her, and baring down at her with a glacial expression that did not betray his feelings. "Is that what you think, Onna? You're foolish." He put a hand on her shoulder, and flattened her back against the wall as he spoke, leaning inward and lowering his voice to barely above a whisper. "You haunt me. Every unusual thing you do makes me wonder why you're so different. I don't know what's wrong with you either, but it is nothing you did."

He used his free hand to lift her chin, leaning forward more so that he could bury his nose in her neck, inhaling deeply that familiar scent that drove him to the very edge of his sanity. "This is why I avoid you." He choked out, grazing the flesh of her neck with his lips, all but groaning as he felt her body shiver in his grasp.

Her head lulled back a moment as she felt his lips against the tender flesh of her neck, before a sudden need took her. Two hands planted themselves on his chest, digits curling only slightly as her own head fell forward, nose burying itself in the same spot in his neck that he had done to her. The scent there was so much stronger, and her mind swam as she felt herself inhale. It was potent, and intoxicating, more powerful than any alcohol she'd ever had, and she hadn't even been in her own head enough to hear the small, shivering, whimper-like moan that had escaped her, muffled by his flesh.

And this is why he had been avoiding her. This was dangerous, but his mind was in no better shape, and the woman's sound effects had not helped the situation at all. He brushed his canines against her flesh as a feather would, careful not to leave so much as a mark, before lifting his head enough to crash his lips down against hers. His body pressed against hers, which again provoked a similar sound out of her.

Every last inch of him screamed at him to take her, claim her, howl to the heavens his stake on her, so that none other than him could have her, and he had every intention of complying, if only because he could not control himself. Neither of them could. He could smell it on her, too, and that just drove him further. He took his hand off of her shoulder, and grabbed one of her legs, digits curling into her inner thigh, the tips of his fingers barely touching the skin under the bottom of her shorts....

"Bulma! Bulma my dear, please come downstairs!" Her father's voice drifted up from downstairs, ripping both of them into reality. Vegeta let out a rather loud grunt of frustration, that same hand lifting to punch the wall just hard enough to cause it to reverberate and shake, but not enough to crack it.

Bulma's eyes went wide in realization of what had happened, and her face turned a bright pink as she pulled herself away from the wall, and away from Vegeta. "There's something wrong with both of us, Vegeta, and you know it." She stated plainly, before exiting the room.

She made her way down the stairs and into the living room, where both her parents were located. Her father seemed oddly content, while her mother busied herself with an arrangement of flowers in the corner, busy as always.

Bulma seemed quite proud that she had regained her composure so quickly, leaving little to no evidence of her little encounter. "What's this all about?" She said in a rather forced cheerful tone.

Dr. Briefs smiled in his warm, fatherly manner, and waved a hand towards the phone in the corner. "Just finished with a phone call, dear.. I know you have been going through a lot, and you've obviously been very stressed over it.. You've just struggled with a bunch of stubborn old men, and have had to put up with a dangerous alien.."

Bulma knew he was beating around the bush, and to be honest she was not in any kind of mood to put up with it. "Okay, I get it.. So who was it on the phone?" She inquired anxiously.

He hesitated, and looked over at Bunny, who didn't even so much as look away from her flowers. "It was that young friend of yours. It was Yamcha, dear. He's coming to visit tomorrow."

* * *

Author's note: OH SNAP. I went there.


	10. Chapter 10

Oh yeah. I've been loving these chapters. This one makes me happy in so many ways. I am probably gonna take a break for a few days after I put this chapter out. I wanted to get to this point so I could reformulate my ideas for what's to come.

I wanted to specify that this is not going to be a lemon fic, despite the rating. It will imply sex, and will at some point include some very graphic violence.

Anyway, it looks as if I have picked up a few more readers! Excellent! You all make me feel special, really. I hope you guys enjoy the new chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or any of the characters.

* * *

Chapter Ten

* * *

Bulma stood frozen in the middle of the living room, her mind swarming with conflicting thoughts. She felt angry, betrayed, and most of all, this feeling of hatred took her. Hatred for _him_. Something she had never felt before.

"H—How could you?!" She hissed towards her father, hands curling into fists in defense. "What the hell made you think I wanted to see him? How could you just invite him here without asking me?" She shouted, her face etched with anger.

"Now now, dear. I understand he was less than honorable towards you last time you encountered him, but you need to calm down." He said, moving over to place a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "He's an adult, so are you. He seemed generally concerned for you and sincere in his request to apologize to you for the things he said and did. The least you can do is hear him out."

Bulma relaxed at her father's touch, but could not shake the horrible gut-wrenching feeling that took her. "Father, I just... He hurt me, he's hurt me more times than I can count at this point. I don't know if I can forgive him." She had become suddenly so docile. Her father had that effect on her, destroying her will to object his request.

"People make mistakes, love. They learn from them too.. You need to think about your future. How long do you intend to drift through this world alone? Do you not want a family someday? A husband? You cannot keep getting offended over trifles."

Trifles? Is that what he thought of the things Yamcha had done? She felt a twinge of pain in her core at his words. They stung her, but she felt absolutely powerless to stop him. "I.. Of course I do, father, but do you honestly think that he's the marrying type? I've asked myself that question a thousand times before... But I don't think he is, I don't think I can..."

He squeezed his daughter's shoulder comfortingly, and placed a chaste kiss on her cheek. "The least you can do is hear him out. Maybe he's changed. You at least owe the young man that much. You were with him for so long." He released her shoulder, and smiled warmly. "Let him speak his peace, and if you still feel that way, tell him in earnest. What's the worst that can happen?" With that, he departed, heading off towards his room.

Vegeta had been there the whole time. He had followed her downstairs, but had waited at the base of the stairs, listening to the entire conversation. The mention of that weakling caused him to scowl, almost tempted to rip the doctor's tongue out for even uttering the boy's name.

While he had been pleased that Bulma seemed to object to the weakling, he was disappointed when she caved so easily, even if she did seem intent on letting the scarred one down. _If I were her, I'd agree for the sole purpose of breaking every limb in his body, and drenching the yard in his blood._

Bulma stood quietly for a long time, waiting for anything or anyone to break her from this trance. It had been Bunny who had done so, drawing her daughter into a warm, comforting hug. "Oh don't worry dear, your father is just looking out for you. He loves you, and he's afraid of you being alone or unhappy, that's all." She patted the small of her daughter's back before pulling away. "Just be strong, ok? Don't let that young man push you into something you don't want to do. You're stronger than that, you hear me?"

Not once in her life had Bulma heard her mother speak to her in such a serious manner. She'd always been supportive, but never so knowing. "Mom..? Are you ok? I thought I heard you arguing earlier and--" She was cut off.

"No matter what happens, Bulma, Trunks and I love you. We always have, and don't you forget that. We are only worried about you. You were sick so often as a child, and you got through it every time stronger than before." She smiled cheerfully, and offered her daughter an open box of chocolates. Where the hell had those come from?

Bulma blinked at the sudden change of subject to chocolate, but happily plucked one out that she was delighted to find was filled with caramel, and nearly purred at the explosion of flavor as her tongue crushed it against the roof of her mouth. "Mmm.. Momma, you're the best, you know that?" She admitted, settling down on the couch, with Bunny following suit.

"I try!" Bunny chirped, holding up a couple of Bulma's favorite movies. Bulma had brightened significantly at the sight of it.

She knew Vegeta was There. No matter how quiet and swift he had been, somehow, she knew he was there, even though she had not once looked back to check. "We're about to watch films you hate, Vegeta. Fair warning." She said plainly.

Bulma seemed shocked, and turned around to find a very surly Saiya-jin standing in the threshold. "Oh my." She stated. She hadn't even heard him enter! How long had he been there, and for that matter, how had Bulma known he was there? Not that it mattered, Vegeta simply scoffed at them, and stalked back up the stairs to his room.

The two of them spent much of the night watching movies, eating chocolate, and drinking overly fruity beverages, until Bulma had completely passed out on the couch. Bunny covered her with a blanket, placed a kiss on her daughter's temple, and headed off to bed. Tomorrow was going to be interesting.

* * *

There were clear signs that this was going to be a bad day. There was no sun out today, having been covered by ominous gray clouds, threatening a storm to come. The wind whistled and whizzed at a much stronger rate than was normal for this region of the planet, and every one of Bunny's pets had decided to hibernate in whatever little holes or homes they had made for themselves within the indoor garden.

The fact that Bulma had awakened to a very loud crash-sound from the kitchen was unpleasant enough, but the familiar intense pain that thrummed through her skull, all the way down her spine was just the cherry on the shit sundae. It was overwhelming, and she couldn't quite see straight.

Slowly, Bulma lifted herself off the couch, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders as she dragged herself into the kitchen to see what the source of the sound was. Apparently, one of the cats had knocked her favorite mug off the counter, shattering it. Bunny was knelt on the floor, picking up the pieces quietly. So much for her attempt at having a cup of coffee ready for Bulma, right?

_One._

Something seemed off about Bulma, even she knew it. She could feel it. Something was very wrong, and it was discerning. "My favorite mug.." She said in a completely neutral tone, as if she really didn't care. She couldn't figure out if she did or not.

"Oh I'm so sorry sweetheart!" Bunny exclaimed, tossing the porcelain shards into the trash, before continuing. "The new cat just hasn't learned not to go on the counter yet. Here, I'll fix you a cup of coffee, why don't you sit down? Breakfast is going to be soon."

It was like she was in a dream, none of this was real, but it felt as normal as any other day. What was this horrible feeling she had? No, not the pain she felt, it was something different, and it hung in the air, thick and disgusting, and turned her stomach. She could smell it, but what was it?

She sat quietly in her chair as she waited for breakfast. She hadn't even noticed when her father came in, let alone Vegeta, until the food had been set on the table. It was like she was going through the motions of a normal life. She filled her plate, not realizing exactly how much food she had actually put there, and ate it quietly, not even hearing the comments coming from her father or her mother.

"Oh my dear, you must have been starving!" Her mother said observantly, sipping contentedly at her orange juice in the meantime.

"Yes, her appetite has certainly been.. Abnormal... She apparently hardly ate while she was at the office. Her body is compensating." Dr. Briefs stated, studying Bulma quizzically from around the side of his newspaper.

Even Vegeta had taken note of her, and seemed visibly unsettled by something. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he could smell it on her. She had an emotion that he couldn't place. Was it pain? Well, maybe somewhat, but there was something more there, and it caused his stomach to twist in anxiety.

Something bad was going to happen today.

She had said nothing about her migraine. She didn't want them to know. No tests today, no medications. She didn't want to deal with any of it. She just finished her breakfast, and excused herself with a mumble, before quietly retreating to the security of her room.

She showered, changed, and put as much effort into her beautification ritual as she possibly could, somewhat disappointed that she didn't look any different than she normally did. She didn't know why it upset her, but something was missing, and as a result, she felt incomplete. She felt ugly.

She tugged her arms into her white lab coat, not bothering to button it as she left her room, and moved silently down into the laboratory. After a brief greeting to her father, she found herself buried purposefully into a mountain of blueprints yet to be finished.

This was about the only time that she didn't seem to be irritable. She had tried to be at least somewhat civil to the assistants and new technicians that occasionally entered her sanctum, somewhat pleased that she hadn't completely scared them away. The last thing she needed was for her subordinates to refuse to be around her, then she'd never get anything done.

"Uhm.. Miss Briefs.." A tentative voice spoke through the opening in the door to the room she was currently in. Bulma looked up from what she had been working on, a single brow rising as she did so.

"There's … There's a problem with the Gravity Chamber." He said.. He was one of the new scientists that her father had hired to replace the gaps left when the others were promoted.. "I-- Dr. Briefs had asked me to perform a test on the reactor levels.." He was so hesitant, and he was stuttering. "B-but I.. I'm so sorry, it's all my fault!"

She snapped. "Out with it!" She said sharply, a low growl emanating from her, and she hadn't even noticed it.

The scientist jumped, and hung his head. "I accidentally overloaded it. It threw out some of the capacitors on the inside.. And.. And now it cannot go beyond 500 G's."

She twitched noticeably.

_Two._

The scientist trembled at the glare his superior sent him, and immediately fled the room.

Bulma had honestly been surprised that it had not been Vegeta whom had come to tell her of this turn of events, but her answer came as she left her seat, and moved to the door, pulling it open. There he stood, leaning against the opposing wall, and staring at the bumbling scientist as he fled. Apparently, he had forced the young newcomer to tell his superior what he had done himself, which would certainly explain his initial fear.

Vegeta regarded her appearance with little more than a glance, before quietly following behind the woman as she headed up the stairs and out of the compound, to the machine that sat in the front yard.

Neither of them spoke. For whatever reason, Vegeta knew there was something wrong, and seemed too involved with trying to figure out what it was to actually goad her. Besides, this seemed the entirely wrong time to do so. He had seen her temper first hand the last few days, and he didn't want to be on the wrong end of it right now. Not that he was scared, but he was just not in the mood. As long as she was complying with the need for repairs on his Gravity Chamber, he was going to show her that much respect.

She worked in silence, not even caring that the grumpy saiya-jin stood nearby, watching her like some sort of piece of meat. Her face was contorted in concentration, irritation, and confusion. It didn't look as if she was entirely all there.

It was only just as she was finishing the last of the repairs that the communication screen in the chamber flickered on.

"Bulma dear, your guest is here, and it's almost lunch time. Why don't you two come out of there and join us?" Dr. Briefs stated. On the screen behind her father, Bulma could see her mother sitting on the couch next to Yamcha, whom was wearing a very well-tailored blue suit, a bouquet of flowers set on the table in front of them.

_At least he's nice enough to bring me flowers.._ She sighed inwardly. "Alright, I'm on my way. I'm done here anyway." She commented flatly, before closing the panel she had been working behind, before standing upright. She turned to Vegeta, and finally addressed him. "Something doesn't feel right. … I... don't feel right.."

She said nothing else, merely exiting the chamber, not realizing that the Prince followed, right into the kitchen, and into the living room.

Her head was pounding, and each beat shot down her spine, to every last extension of her body. As soon as she entered the room, she stopped, and was almost knocked over by a very unpleasant stench. It smelled awful, and she couldn't place it. It was a mix of different scents that she was unfamiliar with, and it took her a moment to regain her composure, before she moved the rest of the way into the room.

"Hey there babe!' Yamcha exclaimed, standing from his spot on the couch, the flowers in tow. He walked over to Bulma, holding out the flowers for her to take.

She took the flowers, and simply set them down on the small table next to her, mumbling a thank you that did not seem at all sincere. Whatever that smell was, it got stronger the closer Yamcha got, and her mind struggled to wrap itself around it.

"Why are you here, Yamcha?" She asked bluntly, finally looking him in the eye.

He seemed startled a moment, not necessarily by her question, but by the rather glacial expression she was giving him. He had never seen an emotion like that on her face before. "Wow, babe. You look different.." That wasn't exactly a good way to start. "I uh.. Well.." He looked around tentatively, kind of uncomfortable talking with Vegeta standing nearby, and her parents listening intently.

"Whatever you've got to say, I'm sure you aren't afraid to say in front of my family and friends." She insisted.

"Right.. Well.. I've been doing a lot of thinking and.. I'm really sorry.. I feel terrible for the position I put you in, you know?" he paused.. "I let the wrong part of me dictate what was really important, and what's important to me is you." He fished around in his pocket, and withdrew a small blue velveteen box.

Dr. Briefs smiled knowingly, and Bunny simply remained quiet. Vegeta seemed absolutely unaffected, but that was completely untrue. He was studying Bulma, waiting for a response. His entire being wanted to lunge at the weakling and tear him limb from limb. He had no right... But he would wait to see what the woman did first. He knew what he was doing based off of all the worthless human movies he'd observed in the past.

She turned up her nose slightly as his words. She knew what was coming, and every second that passed, she got closer to figuring out what that horrible stench was that was coming from him.

The young man got down on one knee, and opened the box, revealing a dazzling diamond ring. "Bulma, every moment we've had together is important to me. You _are _ the most important thing in the world to me, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Please, tell me you'll have me as your husband.."

_Three._

_It smells like.... _ Her eyes grew wide in realization. "You.." She said in a low, threatening tone..

"Uh.. babe?" He quivered slightly at the sound of her voice.. "What's wrong, Bulma?" His voice broke slightly.

"You are a dirty, horrible liar, Yamcha!" She spat, pushing his offering away. Her eyes narrowed and she sneered in indignation towards him.

"Wh-What are you talking about?" He questioned, not altogether sure how to react to her sudden animosity towards him.

"You speak of me being important, but you're a liar. You always have been! How many women were you with last night, or this morning, huh?"

Everyone in the room, Vegeta included, seemed stunned.

"None! What makes you think-"

"DO NOT LIE TO ME! I can smell sex on you. I can smell their cheap perfume!" She shouted suddenly, her hands clenching so tightly that her nails drew blood in her palms.

"What are you talking about, Bulma? Look at me! My hair is wet! I just got out of the shower! There's no way I--"

"I said stop lying, you treacherous little whelp!" There was a growl that had started the second she had realized what that smell was. "I can smell it. I can see the truth in it now. I'm not important to you! Tell the truth!"

Vegeta was stunned. There was no way, _no way_ she could smell that, but from the look on her face, the way her nose scrunched when she had first entered the room, she had picked up the scent. It was as strong to her as it had been for him. Sure, he was used to the smell, so he no longer reacted to it.. But her..

_I don't understand.. How could.._

"FINE! I admit it, okay? You would never give it up to me, so I found it elsewhere, and they were probably a lot better at it than you!" He blurted, almost surprised at his response.

They were shouting amongst each other now. Yamcha had begun to move back slowly, and Bulma had leaned forward slightly, her features curled into a threatening scowl.

There was something in her expression that he had never seen before in her. _Never in a human._ Never because it wasn't possible. It was the beast. The beast that clawed at him at times, the one that every single saiya-jin fought with, the very same beast that struck fear in the hearts of many creatures before they met their doom. The beast that only showed it's real form in the light of a full moon. The _Oozaru._

It was in her eyes, her eyes that were once a brilliant blue had lost their color to a dark onyx, eventually fading until there was nothing but the whites of her eyes left... And even then, it was semi-luminescent.

He looked quickly over to Bunny and her husband. Dr. Briefs looked downright terrified, as if he was no longer looking at his daughter... Bunny on the other hand was staring at vegeta, her expression telling more than words could.

The truth reared it's ugly head, and his mind warped back to everything Bunny and Dr. Briefs had said:

"_You know, Mister Vegeta, Bulma used to a lot eat more! She was such an active girl when she was younger!"_

…_...._

"_Whenever she gets worked up like this she usually isn't feeling well the next day, but oh it's good to see her so spirited again!"_

…_...  
_

"_She's been like this ever since she was a baby.."_

…_.._

"_Oh dear, do you think she's having that kind of trouble again?"_

…_..._

"_Oh! You didn't know, did you? Poor Bulma was born with a horrible birth defect! She had to have surgery at such a young age. I did tell you she has migraines, right? Poor thing.."_

…_..._

"_My Bulma... She gets rather violent."_

…_..._

"_Her outburst managed to help our data."_

Every little growl, every motion she had made, every time she reacted in such a familiar instinctive manner, right down to her unknowing attempt to appease him, or impress him with her strength. Even the potent, beautiful scent she produced all fell together. It felt like his world had slowed down all of a sudden.

She was not human. She never had been, and she didn't even know it. They had been lying to her, both of them, her so-called 'parents; and even now she struggled with her inner beast, the one that had obviously been suppressed for the entirety of her life. He felt pain for her, he felt the anger she should be feeling towards the two who should never have hid the truth from their progeny. His kin.

"YOU!" He shouted suddenly towards Dr. Briefs, who stiffened suddenly. "What have you done?!" He barked, demanding the answers he already knew.

All the while, Yamcha and Bulma still argued nearby.

"You're not worth all of this, Bulma! Look at you! That monster did this to you, didn't he?!" Yamcha pointed to Vegeta.

Her head was pounding, her spine burned with such intensity that she couldn't even think. Her hands grasped her skull as a means to desperately stop it from throbbing. Never before had she felt pain of this caliber. Never had it hurt this badly. The words Yamcha spoke rang in her ears, and it was like a light switch. The worst thing he could possibly say.

Something snapped inside of her. Like a rabid dog who had broken it's chain. It was so sudden that everyone in the room fell quiet, stunned by what occurred next. Her ki level spiked, not just a little bit like it normally did, it damn near exploded. It was nowhere near the level of Vegeta and definitely nowhere near the Super Saiya-jin status of Goku, but Yamcha paled in comparison to it. It had such force that the glass in the room broke, and the ground shook. She had let out a feral roar, before charging towards Yamcha at a speed none thought she was capable of.

She hit him much like a football player would, driving him out the door, further further until he slammed into the incredibly thick, tall cement wall that surrounded the compound outside. The portion of the wall he hit crumbled as she brought him to the ground. Again and again she roared, fists slamming into his face as he struggled like a wounded animal, thrashing, covering his face, anything to protect himself from her rage.

Vegeta dragged Dr. Briefs outside to watch the result of his mistake, and Bunny followed suit in silence as they watched in horror.

"SCREAM!" She barked, a sickening crack sounding as she so easily snapped his leg, a blood-curdling scream coming from the weakling.

"AGAIN!" SNAP! His other leg followed, and another scream followed. There was blood all over the lawn. His blood splashed about as she pounded her fist into his face, his chest, his stomach, and he was powerless to stop her.

"Please!" Bunny finally cried out, tears pouring from her eyes as she reached out to touch Vegeta's Bicep. "Please stop her! Please!" She pleaded.

He didn't know why he listened. He should have let her have her revenge, he should let her take out her rage on the treacherous weakling, but something about Bunny's cries had made him feel a twinge of sympathy.. He appeared behind the woman, and used his strong arms to hook both of her arms in restraint.

She thrashed and roared, her face, her clothes, her lab coat nearly soaked in the young mans' blood.

Goku had been there in seconds after the sudden ki spike. Instant transmission was an incredible ability, after all, and had been expecting Vegeta to be the perpetrator of the crime he saw before him.

Yamcha was nearly a boneless pulp, barely clinging to life, and there was Bulma, looking much like a feral beast, barely restrained by the Prince himself.

Vegeta shouted. "Kakkarot, if you value the weakling's life, you will get him out of here, NOW!" he ordered, watching as the bumbling fool grabbed onto the bloodied friend of his, put two fingers to his forehead, and simply dematerialize before him.

When she saw Yamcha vanish, she let out another roar, obviously enraged by the fact that her vengeance had been taken from her. Vegeta struggled only somewhat with her in his arms.

"Onna. ONNA! Calm down! Listen to me! Listen to my voice! ONNA!" He knew it was no good. She was beyond the point of listening, and he couldn't blame her.

Pop!

The sound came from behind the two of them, and Bulma stiffened suddenly, thrashing a few more moments before very quickly beginning to fall limp. Vegeta only then noticed the dart that was now sticking out of her arm.

He looked behind him to find Dr. Briefs with a now unloaded gun, which had obviously been used to project the sedative into the woman. It was probably the one smart thing the man had done all day.

As he felt the woman calm, he turned her about in his arms to look at her. She looked to be falling asleep, but the rage had drained from her expression. She looked up at Vegeta, almost frightened. She still didn't understand. Her head lulled, and rested against his chest. It was then that he felt it.. The small, furry appendage that peeked out from underneath her lab coat, and had been wrapped around his leg the whole time he had held her.. As she lost her consciousness, it was losing it's grip, and he quietly gathered her up in his arms, and brought her inside, depositing her carefully onto the couch, leaving the crumbled wall and blood-soaked lawn in his wake.

* * *

She felt her world spinning around her. There were muffled voices.. She could feel a hand gently stroking her cheek. She kept her eyes shut as she struggled to focus on the words being spoken.

"Should we remove it? It's dangerous for her to have it, isn't it? That's why we removed it when she was a baby." A male voice spoke, she knew it was her fathers'.

"That's not fair, dear, she wasn't given a choice then." Her mothers' voice came from close by. She had to have been the one who was touching her.

"You've already brought her enough shame, human. You will not touch her tail." Vegeta's voice followed, a threateningly low growl erupting from his chest. He sounded furious, but quiet, like he was trying so hard not to explode.

_Tail? What? _She struggled to recount the events that had transpired. Did she remember them? First she came out of the labs.. And.. Wait.. Yes.. She remembered all of it. She remembered the myriad of emotions that had hit her.. She remembered the horrible pain, she remembered the rage she felt, and the sickening satisfaction she got out of nearly ending Yamcha's miserable life. But a tail?

She felt something different. Something seemed much different.. And she felt it twitch as she thought. It reacted to her emotions, and it was _hers_. It was soft, it was furry, and although in her normal mind she would be afraid at the idea of having it, it made her feel _complete._.. And they were contemplating removing it? Did she want it gone? It felt so different to have it, the pain was gone, the discomfort was gone, and she relished in the feel of it as it swayed and twitched about, an appendage that had been given life, and was happy to be there.

"He's right." She said suddenly, finally rubbing her eyes enough to allow them to open, pushing herself up so she could sit upright. "You will not be touching it." She looked conflicted, unsettled, and somewhat angry.

Dr. Briefs looked somewhat shocked, and Bunny touched Bulma's hand tentatively.

Vegeta had been standing behind the couch, arms crossed, with a rather guarded expression. He had stood watch by her the entire time she had been out, like a loyal guard. He spoke slowly, and threateningly. "You will now tell her the truth. You will show her everything, and tell her everything. There will be no more lies, or you will pay for all the years you made her suffer."

* * *

Author's note: Oh noes! The full explanation will be next time.


	11. Chapter 11

So, last chapter was incredibly satisfying to write, I gotta be honest. I'm a little sad no one caught onto the devious premonition that Vegeta had made early in that chapter, but that's ok, it makes me smile thinking about it. Yes. I'm devious. If any of you catch onto what devious little premonition I had in chapter ten.. I'll give you an e-cookie! [Vo-chan, you don't count cause I told you already! But you get an e-cookie for beta reading this chapter.]

This is another chapter I know I am going to enjoy writing immensely. I'm glad you guys have hung with me this far! There's still a lot more to this story, but we've now reached the point in the story that Vo-chan calls the butterfly effect, yes? So let's see how the train derails from it's original tracks.

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or any of the characters.

* * *

Chapter Eleven

* * *

"Where do we begin..." Dr. Briefs thought aloud, settling down in the old leather armchair that wreaked of his cigarettes and wine. He absentmindedly stroked his mustache as he thought, trying to recall properly the events of so many years ago.

"How about where the craft she had to have landed on this planet in has gone." Vegeta said curtly, taking the opportunity to settle down on a chair in the corner, his arms folded over his chest as a means to help contain the urge to shake the old man until the information spilled from his mouth.

"Oh yes. That. Well, I suppose we can start by saying we do not know the day that you were really Born, Bulma. We used the day the explosion happen, and the day you were found.." He trailed off, idly reaching into his lab coat pocket for the small box of cigarettes, but after a rather irritable glare from both the Prince and his 'daughter', he thought better of it, and simply sighed, before continuing.

"It was late at night, Bunny and I were out in the back of the compound, working on a project, and there was suddenly a bright light.. Something had entered the earths' atmosphere, and it was definitely on fire." He paused, taking a sip of what looked to be white wine. "There were meteorites all the time falling to earth, so we didn't think much of it, you know? But when it made impact, somewhere around five to ten miles outside of the city, there was a marvelous explosion... So Bunny and I gathered some of my technicians and we piled into a capsule jet to investigate.. We thought were were just going to find a large meteor husk.."

Bulma seemed stiff, she stared blankly at her hands, which were folded in her lap.. Her tail twitched every now and then as her mind processed the information without so much as a single word. It was so unlike her to be so pensive.

Dr. Briefs cleared his throat.. "Obviously, we did not find a meteor, though there was a large crater left from the impact. Whatever had landed did not survive the crash. There was nothing. No rock, no metal, just a crater.. But it was what was just outside of the craters' radius that caught our attention. A baby girl, crying like the world had ended." He waited, looking to see if Bulma gave any hint of reaction. When he got not so much as a twitch of her tail, he went on..

"Bunny was the one who found you, and we were curious to find the extra... Appendage, but other than that the baby looked everything like a human child."

Bunny interjected. "Oh you were so cute as a baby, and your tail was so soft. I just wanted to hold you all night.."

Dr. Briefs cleared his throat, and Bunny quieted, before he continued. "Right, well, there was a lot of speculation as to how the appendage came to be. There are a lot of strange creatures on this planet, but no one had heard of a human with a tail.. Some of the doctors wanted to simply study you, to keep you penned up.. Bunny and I vehemently objected.. She's right, you weren't given a choice to keep your tail at birth.. It was the compromise we had to settle with.."

"Compromise?" Vegeta's gruff voice floated across the room.. Although he looked so indifferent, he was certainly paying attention.

"Well... Bunny and I could never have a child.. We felt that, with her having no one to care for her, there was no better option than to adopt her ourselves... But to protect her from the ridicule of her peers, as well as to appease the team of scientists, as well as the local government, the appendage had to be removed... Since there was no medical records found of her, no parents, we could only assume that the parents had either been killed in that explosion, or she had simply been abandoned.. We never in our wildest imaginations thought that she was from another planet.."

Bulma looked towards her 'father', and then towards Bunny. She felt anger, betrayal, and even a little despair. Despite this, she remained quiet, returning her gaze to her lap.

"Well, before we removed her tail, we had noted that she was incredibly strong for a baby, and had an innate spiritual power, or what you now call Ki, but it had lessened significantly when the tail had been removed... Anyway, it allowed her to grow up much like a normal human would, except of course for the fact that we were her parents, and nothing about being the heir to this corporation would be necessarily normal, but you get the point."

There was silence that stretched between everyone in the room, and it felt like an eternity before Dr. Briefs continued.. "Unfortunately, there were complications with the surgery that removed the tail. The orthopedic and neurologists miscalculated the nervous system being so finely attached to the tail, and you had almost died as a result... Fortunately, you did not.." He paused, looking down at the glass in his hand, before continuing. "As you were growing up, we noticed that you often suffered from pains associated with your tail.. We figured it had to do with the complications, but we couldn't have been more wrong."

Bulma finally spoke, her voice steady, emotionless.. "So, did you ever plan on telling me, or was this to go to your graves?"

Dr. Briefs responded without blinking. "Of course we did.. Your mother disagreed with hiding it from you from the beginning, but we had conceded that we would sit you down when we felt you were old enough, and tell you the truth.. But.."

Bunny interrupted.. "When you left during that summer you were sixteen, we had every intention of telling you, dear, but when you came home..." She paused, looking towards her husband, before looking back at Bulma.. "You told us of your friend.. How he had a tail, and it's description matched the one you were born with... You told us of... Of the... Monster he became, and how he had killed his own grandfather, and almost killed you all.. "

Once again, Dr. Briefs took over. "We did not know you could handle it. Up until that point you had been so sensitive about your appearance, and you were so happy, content with life that we couldn't bare to see you cope with that kind of news.."

That part was true, Bulma was much more insecure about herself when she was a teen, despite the fact that she was told on a near daily basis how beautiful she was, and she likely would not have taken to the news that she had been born with a furry brown tail very well at all.. But in the end it would have been better than never knowing.. Or finding out the hard way, which she unfortunately had just done.

Before more could be said, there was a knock at the door, and everyone snapped out of their dazed state to stare at it questioningly. Bunny was the one to get up, however, and answer it. She turned the knob and opened the door to find Goku standing there, looking quite disturbed, but very obviously worried.

Bunny moved aside to let the bumbling saiya-jin in, and he gave a quiet nod of thanks, before turning his gaze to Bulma. A very noticeable sigh of relief escaped him as his worried gaze rushed over her figure, as if making sure she had been uninjured.. He noticed it then, that extra appendage, which was rapping nervously against the cushions of the couch.

The young Saiya-jin grinned ear-to-ear in disbelief, his right hand rising to scratch behind his head. "I came here to make sure you were ok, but gosh, Bulma, you've got a tail!" He exclaimed, pointing at the appendage in disbelief.

Bulma, still mildly reeling from her rage, snapped a reply that was less than courteous. "I can _see_ that, thank you, Captain Obvious." It's tone was rather cold, and not at all like Goku was accustomed to, but for the first time in his life, he had actually put the pieces together and did not seem offended in the least.

He just sat down on the floor of the living room with his legs crossed, and commented mostly to himself.. "So you're saiya-jin after all, huh? I always knew you smelled different.. Can't say I'm surprised..."

"That's well and good.." Vegeta's curt tone came to bring the reality of the situation to light.. "But the old man was currently in the process of explaining himself when you decided to interrupt, so quiet that mouth before I do it for you."

Dr. Briefs stiffened slightly.. "Yes.. Well... Where was I?"

Vegeta decided that he was going to steer the discussion now.. "She is full Saiya-jin. I can smell it, but how is it she came to look like she does? There has been not a single saiya-jin in history that was born with such an odd coloration. Not one!"

A blue eye twitched instinctively at the blatant shot at her appearance, and she shot Vegeta a glare, before her gaze fell back to her lap. He was right, after all, but that didn't mean she didn't think she was beautiful despite that fact.

"Oh yes, that. Well actually, she was not born looking this way."

Bulma gasped suddenly. "Plastic surgery? You didn't!" she exclaimed.

"Oh no, far from it. But if you're curious, you had a very interesting dark coloration. Almost black, but with a hint of red, it was almost wine colored.. However, as I told you, the surgery wasn't exactly a complete success.. You see, they ended up hitting an organ or two in their carelessness.." He paused, before taking a deep breath.. "And you lost a lot of blood, as well as needed a tissue donor because there was no way to conceal the wound otherwise.. Fortunately, I have a universal blood type, and after various tests, it looked as if your body would accept mine.. So I donated my blood in great amounts, and some of my tissue as well.."

Bulma tilted her head inquisitively as her father continued.. "The tissue was used to seal up the wound, the place where the tail had been.. Now Bulma, I'm sure you're aware of the strange effects that donated organs tend to have on people?"

Bulma nodded only somewhat, but the other males in the room looked utterly lost. "Well," Dr. Briefs started.. "Often times when an organ is donated, the person accepting the organ will sometimes take on traits of the donor.. Such as strange habits, tastes in music, food, and even start to dislike things that the donor used to dislike.."

"Yes, but that doesn't explain how I have--"

"Let me finish, please.." He held a hand up to Bulma in an attempt to calm her. Her nerves were very obviously frayed.. "We discovered from various samples we took from you that your race had an incredible ability to adapt.."

Vegeta's head perked up at that, his eyes widening momentarily in realization.. "Saiya-jins were a nomadic race before we took our planet, but on top of that, we sent our weaker offspring to enemy planets to take them over.. It's not unheard of that some of them grew up having evolved some sort of strange feature that enabled them to survive on the planet, but that still doesn't explain it. Kakkarot did not sprout any unusual features unless you count the fact that he's a complete idiot."

Goku just grinned sheepishly, but let them converse, trying his best to follow..

"You're right, my boy, Goku did not, because he was not faced with a near-death experience when he was a mere infant. From what we could determine, Bulma was only a few months old, if even that, and it was this natural adaptability that caused her to absorb the genetic material in order to survive. It was a natural thing, you see.. Her body recognized the threat to her life, and also recognized what had become present to help it, and it was a natural chemical reaction. Her body saw reason to change."

What struck Vegeta the most was that even as a saiya-jins prior to her evolution, she had what he would consider an odd coloration, though that color was not unheard of, it may have been the reason she was sent away, since saiya-jin females were never, _ever_ sent away to conquer other planets. Someone must have known the dangers, and sent her to protect such a treasure. It was likely that her pod had collided with something in space, and its' course was altered. She must have had at least a somewhat admirable level of ki to have emerged from that craft unscathed, however.

"Anyway, we also figure the human genetic material we gave you had also suppressed your energy, which I suppose worked to your advantage, since you were able to grow up like any other human child would, and the fact that you took on the coloration of my mother, you were not questioned by the media about whether or not you were really our child.."

This was a lot for Bulma to absorb, and she didn't really know how to feel about it. She was feeling so many emotions at once, and fought so hard to make sense of them all, and where they were all coming from.

"For years, however, we tried to figure out how and why you were having that pain in your spine.. We couldn't figure it out until we met your friend here.." Dr. Briefs motioned to Goku.. "And you told us about the spontaneous growth of his tail... Sixteen years and we couldn't grasp the concept that the tail could grow back. How could we? We figured you were human and like most humans, once something is cut off, it's gone for good.. We figured that the pain came as a result of the removal, but it turns out that the tissue we grafted over the wound where the tail had been was the cause.."

"My tail was trying to grow back.. The pain was from it being unable to do so.." She said suddenly, her voice rather flat, but obviously expressing her realization.

"Yes, dear. I wanted so badly to have your father perform the surgery to allow it's growth, I couldn't stand to see my baby in pain!" Bunny expressed with sorrow, which was an emotion that seemed not suited to her normally very cheery disposition.

"You can blame your pain on me, Bulma. Your mother is right. She always, _always_ disagreed with the decision to hide the truth. Right from the very beginning.. That's why she tried so hard to empower you... However, we seemed to be doing well at hiding everything, even with your friend here around.. Your pain had all but gone, save for maybe once or twice a year, and your aggression and appetite from your childhood was down to what we could consider human standards."

"It wasn't until Mister Vegeta came that you started being yourself again!" She chirped in a much too cheerful tone. Bulma even managed a weak smile in her direction. Though she was very clearly upset, it was impossible to hate Bunny. "Oh I was so happy! I've never seen you act with so much spirit before, Bulma dear!"

Bulma still had the question lingering in her mind, and she looked towards her 'father' for answers.. "But.. Why?"

He hesitated for a moment.. "Because I had let the board of directors tell me what was good for you, and because I was too frightened by the destruction you caused in the laboratory when you were just an infant to see clearly that I was trying to turn you into something you weren't."

"Wait, I did what?" She asked in disbelief.. Vegeta just let out a small, knowing chuckle from his place in the corner. Oh yes, this was going to be a fun part of the story..

"Well, I told you before, you had an incredible amount of power to you for a child.. You nearly killed two of our scientists with your strength alone, and you let out ki pressure that nearly blew the instruments in the room up.. And you were just a child.. Especially after seeing what your friend here was capable of, we were afraid that if you were allowed to regrow your tail, you'd gain that power back.."

"Looks like she did, and then some.." Goku chimed in, and everyone looked at him. "...What? I've been listening too!" He reasoned. No one believed that he had actually managed to keep up with the conversation.

"I remember our guest here saying that when a saiya-jin is injured and recovers, their strength grows.. You spent a lot of your childhood and even a good portion of your adulthood in great amounts of pain... And each time you recovered.. I suppose that's why I've been so keen on watching your nervous system and your ki levels.."

"Huh.. I suppose that makes sense.." The Prince interjected. "She's not trained a day in her life but the pain of one's tail being forcefully kept from growing must be worse than it being ripped out by hand. She simply had this all locked away somewhere. Impressive." Was that a compliment? Sort of. He actually felt compassion for her in a sense. He had gotten his tail trampled upon by Zarbon, Dodoria, and Frieza since he was a child, and each time had been torture until he had disciplined himself to numb it, but each time he came out of the torture his power had grown somewhat.. That had to be nothing in comparison to the appendage lacking the ability to grow, and altogether simply expending the energy through her nervous system in the form of intense pain. No wonder she was so irritable when she had her 'migraines'.

"There's not a day that goes by that I do not regret it all, but I was too blinded by the content life we had to realize what it was doing to you. I even went so far as to try and stifle the only interaction you had with your own kind.. " He shook his head, and looked to the floor. This was probably the first time Dr. Briefs had ever shown shame. "There is no atoning for what I've done. I can't imagine what you must be feeling, but know that your mother and I love you, no matter who or what you are.. You're still our little girl."

Bulma's eyes grew wide a moment.. Was that why her father insisted so feverishly that she forgive Yamcha? That treacherous dog was worth more in her fathers' eyes than the prince of her own species? Something inside her boiled and she had to force her gaze away from her so-called 'father' just to contain herself.

Bunny frowned and drew her 'daughter' into a warm embrace. She felt Bulma relax somewhat, and let out a sigh of relief. Bulma couldn't simply deny the fact that they had raised her in kindness her entire life. While she was not biologically their daughter, the fact remained, they were as close to her parents as she would ever get.. But that didn't change the fact that she felt incredibly hurt and betrayed by the entire thing.. More so at her father than at Bunny.. Dr. Briefs was right, Bunny had always tried to empower her, to encourage her to be herself without her even realizing it.

This was a lot for her, too much too soon. She reluctantly withdrew herself from her mothers' grasp, and stood from her seat, quietly walking out the door and into the lawn.. She stood there, staring at the destruction she wrought with her very own hands. Things that only this morning she would have thought she wouldn't be capable of in her wildest imagination..

She almost seemed horrified at the strange sense of pride she had in what she had done.. Had she killed Yamcha? She had no idea, but by the red that blanketed the grass, she may as well have, and she felt little to no remorse for doing so.

Not that she was going to go out and start killing, the satisfaction came from the fact that Yamcha had crossed her, and for once she got back at him. She now understood what Vegeta had told her that night when Yamcha had tried to consummate with her.. He had no right to lay with other women if he wanted her for life. No right. The way her blood boiled when she thought about it made sense now, it wasn't just her smug sense of righteousness, it was who and what she was.

Saiya-jins don't do that. They don't betray their mates, it meant death.

* * *

Goku sat uncomfortably on the floor, not because the carpet wasn't comfortable, but mostly because the silence of the room was incredibly unnerving. Then it hit him.. "Wait a second. You said that it wasn't until Vegeta came that she started to act like a saiya-jin? But I'm saiya-jin, so why didn't she react to me?"

Bunny smiled brightly, not noticing the small grunt that came from the corner.. "Ooh my, Goku, maybe it's because you act more human? Who knows? Maybe she just likes Mister Vegeta! They're always arguing and-" She gave a knowing smile and a glance over to Vegeta, who shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"That's quite enough, dear." Dr. Briefs cut off her statement mid-sentence, much to Vegeta's relief. He didn't want his blatant interest in the woman to be out there for all to see.

_That woman knows more than she lets on. I should not be underestimating her. _He thought to himself, chiding himself for assuming that humans could not catch onto the mating rituals of Saiya-jins. Most of the time, from what he could remember form watching as a child, the mating pair would argue and fight feverishly at the beginning. It was an excuse for the female to get close, especially if it was physical combat, to become acquainted with the male's scent without making it obvious. Females had pride too, after all.

He let out an irritated growl at the bumbling Saiya-jin that was grinning at him in that altogether idiotic fashion, and pushed out of his seat, hastily moving to the door. He stopped before reaching for the knob, not even bothering to look at the idiot.

"Is the weakling dead?"

Goku shook his head no. "We had go give him a senzu bean, but he's fine, though pretty traumatized. He's convinced you did something, or did something to her.. But I know what I saw." He paused.. "And thank you."

He snorted and opened the door. "I do not need nor want your thanks. But I do not want to see that weakling near her ever again. If he shows his scarred face around here, I will not need to hold her back because I will have killed him myself." With that, he stepped out, and slammed the door shut behind him.

"Wow.." Goku said, tucking his hands behind his head and leaning back in a familiar manner. "I never thought I'd ever see Vegeta be so protective over anyone like that."

Bunny smiled brightly, and nodded as if all was right in the world. "Oh I'm sure he'll make a fine husband to my Bulma."

Dr. Briefs shook his head, and let out an audible groan. "All right, dear, let's not get ahead of ourselves.."

* * *

She had been standing silently in the lawn, staring at the blood and the crumbled wall. Her tail remained still as death, curled only slightly at the tip as she reflected upon what had occurred, when the saiya-jin Prince had come upon the scene, canting his head to the side curiously for a moment, before breaking the silence.

"The weakling is not dead. That fool you called a friend fed him one of those ridiculous beans." He stated plainly, walking over to stand at the woman's side. He glanced momentarily at her tail, watching it react in irritation to the news. He couldn't help feel a pang of jealousy, but it wasn't her fault his own tail was gone, nor would he dwell upon it any more than he should. There were more important matters to attend to.

"I don't know what to think, Vegeta." She admitted finally.. "What am I supposed to say to them? That everything is ok, and that we can just go back to our happy lives?" Would he even care? Who else could she talk to about it? She was well out of her comfort zone now. "My entire life was a lie, how the hell am I supposed to take that?"

"You don't." He stated curtly. "They lied, and your 'father' acted out of cowardice. That mother of yours is of a lesser offense. She's been dropping hints since I landed on this rock. I was foolish enough to take them as worthless comments of an airhead." He shook his head.

"Oh that's a mistake you'll regret the rest of your life. I'm sure." She said blandly, before turning to face him. He was still looking towards the rubble off the wall.. "I feel like I should feel bad for what I did, but I don't. Not in the least bit.. I know I'm not human, but that doesn't mean I want to be a.."

He cut her off.. "You're not. You were within your right to punish him for his indiscretions. He wished to be your mate while he lay with other women. Perhaps that is acceptable for humans, but not for... Not for our kind." He paused, looking away as he spoke. "It's not something you can control. It's in your blood. My blood, Kakkarot's blood. You do not betray your mate."

She fell silent again. It was true, she didn't exactly feel like she had done wrong. She felt like she should feel guilt.. She had never intentionally harmed anyone in her entire life, and she didn't really want to start doing so.

He watched her battle internally with what she had done, and sighed inwardly. He couldn't approach this like he would a saiya-jin, because she hadn't been raised as one. "Onna, stop dwelling on it so much." He commanded. "The weakling is fine now. The only thing that is hurt is his pride. If he knows what's good for him he'll stay away from here from now on." He hissed the last part out with a particularly bitter tone.

For whatever reason, the tone of his voice actually caused her frayed nerves to calm somewhat. Vegeta had been right, she had no idea the effect they had on one another. She had subconsciously sought to impress him before, to be close to him, dismissing it as her need for a friend, or her need to help him, or any other excuse she could think up. Even now, she didn't realize that new appendage beginning to sway, it's tip occasionally brushing up against Vegeta's calf, which was a subconscious form of saiya-jin affection that was not lost to Vegeta.

He wanted so badly to have his tail back, and to show her the same affection, if only because it didn't hurt his pride as much to do it in a way he was familiar with. Human affection seemed so indecent, and he would not dare degrade himself to such a point.

_Now is not the time, damn it! _He chided himself on thoughts that were irrelevant to the subject at hand. "I'm not going to lie and say that your entire life will go back to the way it was. You're likely to go through changes that are strange to you." He sniffed the air a moment, before continuing. "Your senses were heightening these past few weeks, I've noticed, and they're likely close to, if not at their full potential. I highly suggest you avoid crowds for a while."

Her nose scrunched in thought. "That's ok, I never really liked crowds anyway.." She commented, waving a hand in dismissal of that particular bit of information.

"Hey Bulma.." A voice came from behind them. Vegeta couldn't help but growl defensively at the familiar ki of Kakkarot, though he felt a slight wave of relief when that new appendage coiled around his calf if just for a moment. She seemed quite adept at appeasing him even when she wasn't trying to do so.

Goku stopped beside them and patted her shoulder for a moment. "If uh.. You ever need to talk about.. Well.. You know.. Just let me know, ok?" He said sheepishly, but was cut off by the Prince.

"And what would you know about being a Saiya-jin, Kakkarot? Though you may have been born one you act anything but. I know full well what the woman will go through and she will not need your assistance." He sounded so bitter, and there was a growl laced underneath his breath as he spoke.

Goku blinked a few times, as if processing the information, before he lifted a hand to scratch the back of his head. "Gosh Vegeta, I guess you really like her a lot, huh?" But he didn't even give the Prince a chance to respond. "Anyway, I've got to go check on Yamcha. He kind of freaked out after he came to.. See you guys later!" He spouted, placing his fingers to his forehead, and dematerialized from sight.

Vegeta's entire body stiffened at the accusation, and he turned his body away from Bulma in an attempt to salvage his precious pride. The audacity of that fool was beyond his comprehension. It was all that blonde woman's fault!

Bulma had more important things on her mind than one thoughtless comment from Goku. "Vegeta?" All she got was a grunt in response.. "What do you think is going to happen to me?" She inquired apprehensively.

He thought for a moment. "You've been going through changes already, Onna." He paused, hesitating for a moment. "Your body has released it's ki tension and you're going to find yourself much stronger than you would expect."

She looked down at her palms, which were still stained with blood, now brown in color. Heck, her entire outfit was stained, but that wasn't even what was bothering her. It came out of nowhere.

"I'm hungry." She stated suddenly. She felt rather embarrassed at her admission. "I feel foolish. I'm covered in blood and you'd think I would be appalled.. But I want to eat instead."

There came another grunt from the Prince, who turned towards the woman, his pride having been given more than enough time for recovery. "Of course you are. Anyone who expends that much energy would be." He paused. "That woman had lunch ready. It's probably still there. Sate your hunger, and then I will start teaching you."

She looked at him quizzically for a moment. "Teaching me what?"

He crinkled his nose for a moment. "Your ki is distracting, woman. You need to learn to control it, and your strength, lest you destroy everything you touch. "

_Smug bastard._

_

* * *

_

Author's note: Oh yeah, calm before the storm? Or wait, there was already a storm. maybe it's more like the eye of the storm? Whatever, I'm bad with analogies.


	12. Chapter 12

Okay, so I'm trying to take this story a little slower now.. And by that I mean I'm not going to be shoving four chapters out in a period of about 24 hours. It can't be healthy for my sanity, right?

So I'm going to sit here, watch glee, and write. Thanks so much for the comments so far by the way. I probably would have been at least discouraged had none of you found my story. That's not to say I'd abandon it, but I probably wouldn't have gotten half as far as I have thus far if not for the motivation you guys provide me to continue and to improve. Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or any of the characters.

* * *

Chapter Twelve

* * *

There was one thing Vegeta had been right about, and that was her need to adjust to her strength. She really hadn't meant to throw open the door from the yard to the kitchen so hard that it nearly ripped off the hinges. It had almost stunned her how easily it happened, the glass shattering when the door hit the wall as it swung. She was lucky that it was still attached to the threshold.

She had stopped in the doorway, silently thankful that no one had been present to witness her mishap, her gaze shifting from the door she had almost destroyed to the table, still stocked full of food that seemed enough to feed a small army. Even for Vegeta staying here, there was a lot of food present. Had her mother been given some premonition of what was to happen? That woman was frightening sometimes, even she had to admit it. But she wasn't even giving herself a chance to think about it. She was hungry, damn near starving, and something told her that she was going to eat much more than her usual fare, and the extra food was necessary.

So, she moved over to the table, very gently and slowly pulling out her chair, before settling down upon it. _Steady and slow. Don't make a fool of yourself by breaking things, Bulma. _She told herself as she reached out for her food, quietly calculating exactly how much effort she had to put into _not_ destroying things. Her first few attempts turned out rather embarrassingly, with a bowl breaking, and a large metal spoon bending. The spoon was easily repaired, but the bowl was there.

Every so often she looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was there to witness the scene, not altogether sure how or why no one had come in to join her for lunch. Still, after a while she had filled her plate, and began to eat in a slow, steady pace, her eyes narrowed in concentration. To think something as simple as eating would be such a difficult task!

* * *

Vegeta knew as soon as he heard that door open with a slam and a crash that she was going to have problems from the get go. He was all too familiar with the need for dignity and pride, and had saved her the embarrassment of watching her figure things out. This was part of how she was going to have to learn, and it was far from easy.

He had made the move to intercept Dr. Briefs and Bunny before they had gone to the kitchen to investigate the noise.

"Leave the woman be." He demanded curtly, pointing to the couch as an indication to them. Dr. Briefs just sat back down in his chair, while Bunny hustled over to Vegeta, patting his shoulder, much to his dismay.

"Oh Mr. Vegeta, we don't want to embarrass poor Bulma, she's having a hard enough day. You're so considerate of her!" The degree of cheer in her voice was almost unheard of, and it had always been unnerving to the Prince, who twitched noticeably as she made contact with him, but made no attempt to retaliate.

"You will remain in here while she eats. She does not need your assistance, and your presence would hinder her. Meals will be prepared for her and none will be present except myself while she eats, until she is accustomed to her power." He commanded, before heading towards the entrance to the kitchen, stopping just before he exited the living room. "This is not negotiable." He stated ,before entering the room.

He had been somewhat pleased to find she had not shattered every plate and bowl on the table. From what he could gather, only one bowl had been damaged. He watched quietly as she ate in a painstakingly slow pace, noticing how concentrated she seemed on such a simple task.

She had glanced over her shoulder, expecting to find the doorway void as it had been the last time, her entire posture stiffening in defense when she noticed that it no longer was. She stared at Vegeta out of the corner of her eye, instinctively silent and still as she watched him move confidently towards his seat, settling down without a word.

Vegeta had noticed her apprehension, and had gotten the hint. She was uncomfortable, but out of everyone in the compound, he was probably the one to cause the least amount of discomfort. He reached out for a plate, and filled it quickly with food, not even looking at her as he spoke. "It will get easier. Saiya-jins learn when they are very young, but you did not have that luxury." That was it, he fell silent then, and began to consume his meal.

Bulma wasn't exactly sure if she wanted to eat like Vegeta did. It wasn't the amount of food that bothered her.. After all, she now understood the degree that hunger had on his body after that sort of exertion. She felt it now, in every inch of her being, right down to her fingertips. It was a burning, worse than any hunger she'd ever felt, and it caused her to feel little to no shame in the amount of food she knew she was going to have to consume to sate herself.

Vegeta said nothing, no insults, no snide comments, and nothing that would indicate he was goading her into argument. He just ate as he usually did, gracefully consuming his mountain of food without so much as a glance in her direction. Even as he finished, he sat in his chair, arms folding over his chest, and gaze shifting out the window. He probably had never looked so patient. It was well outside of his character to show this kind of consideration, but this situation was far beyond anything he was accustomed to, and he had to be at least somewhat understanding. She was eating slow because she didn't want to make a fool of herself.

She had occasionally shifted her gaze to the corner of her vision, glancing at him as he ate, and eventually sat back. Patience was not something she thought Vegeta had in his dictionary, but she wasn't going to complain. She had tried her best to increase her pace little by little, but each time she tried, she felt as if she was going to break the table, and after a while conceded to simply continue the slow and steady pace she had.

Bulma didn't even look surprised whenever she finished a plate of food, and still felt the pang of hunger. She had no shame in her expression as she reached for more food, quietly filling her plate, and returning to her task of consuming her meal. It took her a long time to finish. Damn near an hour, but eventually she sat back in her seat, and let out a long, soft sigh. She tried not to think that what she had just done was disgusting, and she did her best to disguise it. She was thankful at least that only Vegeta was there to witness it. She couldn't even imagine the looks on her 'parents' faces if they saw her eat that much.

"You've no reason for shame, Onna." Vegeta broke the silence. He could damn near smell her disgust in herself. "You're going to have to stop measuring yourself to human standards. You are not one. Eating as little as a human now will destroy your body. You consume that much to sustain yourself, and nothing less will do."

Bulma stared at her empty plate. _Not human. _She never had been, and she still didn't know what to think about that. Was she to be happy or sad? She felt nothing either way. It was likely the shock of her day still hadn't had a chance to leave her system, and it would be a while before it did. Her brows furrowed as she absorbed the Prince's statement. He was right, after all. She felt the hunger, she felt the weakness, her body was different.. No, her body was what it was supposed to be. That's what she needed to tell herself. Her tail swayed idly as she came to that conclusion, ringing in her content for Vegeta to see.

"Your 'family' will be in here to eat. When they are done, you are to wash these dishes by hand." He stated finally, resulting in a very insulted look by Bulma. He lifted a palm and held it up to stop her before she started. It was a valiant attempt to try and keep her from opening her mouth.

She sneered viciously towards him, insulted by the very notion, her left eye twitching in irritation. "And who are you to tell me what to do? Just because all this happened doesn't change the fact that I sure as shit don't take orders from you, Vegeta!" She spat, that familiar flame returning to her voice. She had started off as a half-yell, but her tone had quickly muted when the sound of her own loud voice rung painfully in her ears, but that didn't mean she hadn't had the same amount of venom in her tone that she always had.

Vegeta couldn't help but allow the corner of his lips to curl upwards into a rather pleased smirk at her defiance. He wasn't about to admit that the thought of her becoming an entirely different person in personality would be a disappointment. Still, he just lulled his head back for a moment with an amused chuckle, and shook his head. "Woman, this is for your own good. You could barely eat your meal without breaking things. You need to control yourself, and this will help it. Therefore, I do not want to see you leave this room until it is done. I will know if you fail, or cheat."

With that he stood, and exited the kitchen into the living room. She could hear him mumbling to her parents quietly enough that she couldn't exactly discern what it was he was saying, but she was sure that he was telling them to eat and leave the mess for her to clean.

* * *

Bunny was the first to enter the kitchen, offering Bulma a very cheerful smile as she sat down in her normal seat beside her 'daughter', and serving herself as she normally did. "Oh Bulma dear isn't this exciting?" She stated carelessly. "He's such a hardworking young man, but he still makes time to show you he cares!" She chirped, patting Bulma's shoulder once, before turning to her meal.

Bulma looked visibly disturbed when Bunny entered the room, but she underestimated the woman's demeanor and the effect it had on her. Her resolved managed to melt somewhat at her words. In a sense, she was right. He didn't have to help her, he could leave her to her frustrations, but he didn't. He had spent half the day already trying to help her through this, and she hadn't even asked him to.. But that didn't mean she appreciated the manner in which he went about it, ordering her like some servant woman, the nerve!

Still, she offered Bunny a weak smile, before rising from her seat and heading over to the sink. She stared at the levers of the sink cautiously, before very slowly and gently turning on the hot water, careful not to rip the levers off the pipes.

Mr. Briefs had come in sometime between Bunny's little speech and Bulma leaving her chair, and had settled down in his seat with a newspaper. The Briefs' couple ate as they usually did, engaging in conversation as if nothing was out of the norm, though he occasionally shifted a gaze to Bulma, who seemed lost in concentration as she gathered various plates, and took them over to the sink to be washed.

She was frustrated with everything. Herself, her task, and her 'parents', who acted like nothing had changed at all. She had already broken another bowl and a small saucer, growling in frustration as the porcelain crushed in her hand. She was concentrating so hard on her task, carefully washing each dish slowly, calculating and remembering the right amount of pressure each motion took, that she hadn't even noticed when the two had finished their meal and left the room without a word to her.

It wasn't until she had turned around to claim more dishes to clean that she realized they were gone. She could smell the subtle scent of her mothers' cooking coming from one of the other smaller kitchens. How late was it? Her gaze shifted to the clock.. Only Three o'clock in the afternoon? Well, that means she had been washing dishes for damn near an hour and was hardly close to finishing.

Bulma's face reddened in frustration as yet another dish cracked in her hand. She had been careless when she had lost herself in thought, and had no one to blame but herself for the broken dish. She let out another growl of frustration, before returning to her task.

* * *

Vegeta was not about to waste the rest of his day with the woman if he could help it. He still had much to accomplish and hadn't even stepped foot into his Gravity Chamber until after lunch had been over.

Still, every so often he glanced out one of the portholes of the chamber to look into the kitchen window that was right above the sink, just to make sure she was still there. As time went on he could see the frustration in her expression grow, but at least she was still there.

It wasn't until the telltale buzz that warned him of the shutoff of the gravity mechanism had went off that he bothered to stop. It was dinnertime, and he still had the task ahead of him of making sure the woman had done as she was told.

Upon exiting the chamber, his gaze met the warm light of the kitchen, and the telltale sounds of water running. He grunted in approval, tossing a white towel over his shoulders, before moving towards the kitchen door. He tugged it open slowly, and took in the scene before him.

There was a small garbage pail next to the sink, and a few broken dishes inside of it, but not nearly as many as he had expected. She stood over the sink, concentrated so thoroughly on her task, her poor tail soaked and the tip covered in a few suds, twitching it's discontent for him to see. She only had a few dishes left, but she looked absolutely miserable.

Her pace seemed much faster than when she had first started, he observed, and she didn't seem to be having quite as much trouble keeping herself from breaking or chipping the dishware. He watched in silence as she finished the last of the dishes, a look of relief falling over her features as she watched the last droplets of water swirl down the drain. She was dirty, wet, and her clothes were still stained in the weakling's blood. She wreaked of that blood, and miserable was indeed the best way to describe her.

"Your mother has dinner ready in the dining room." Vegeta stated. "Eat your fill, and clean the dishes as you did for these. You can clean yourself and sleep after that is completed." He finished, quickly leaving the room and entering the dining room where his dinner awaited him.

She turned quickly on her heels at the sound of his voice, her face etching into a visible scowl at his command. Her tail thrashed a few times in anger at his audacity. _How dare he! I'm no servant! I don't care if this is supposed to help, I'm no dishmaiden! _She huffed, but the scent of freshly cooked food had drawn her attention to her growing hunger. She had not even thought of how much energy and concentration it took her to control herself like she had. She had put everything she could into her task, and as a result her stomach voiced its' discontent.

So, she just conceded, and dragged herself out of the kitchen and into the Dining room, where only Vegeta was present, already busy consuming his meal. He didn't so much as look up at her as she carefully sat down, and filled her plate to eat. It did come a little easier this time, and she found herself not thinking quite as hard about the task as she ate, but she was still very visibly frustrated at the situation she was in.

Vegeta finished his meal long before she had, and had simply retreated upstairs to shower and rest for the night, though occasionally extending his senses to make sure Bulma was doing as she was told.

Bulma found herself completing her meal only moments before her 'parents' had entered, and she wordlessly went about her task of washing the dishes. She found herself cleaning until after midnight, finally dragging herself upstairs to shower, change into clean clothes, and collapse on her bed.

* * *

The days went by as anyone would expect. She had to get up early to eat, and wash the dishes of each meal. Her first few days were just that, eating and washing, the time it took to do each lessening as time went on, until her task was little more than trivial. She hadn't even noticed that she had forced herself to eat her meal faster just so she could get to her work faster, but that hadn't stopped Vegeta from giving her more tasks to complete in place of the free time she thought she was going to have.

Bulma was becoming visibly frustrated at the situation she was in. She had not had the chance to even look at her lab in over a week now, and Vegeta had hardly said a word to her aside from occasionally barking an order. Every time her parents tried to talk to her, she felt this horrible pain, and normally did not give either of them so much as a glance. It was like it was all building up inside of her, and she didn't know how much of this monotony she could handle.

This particular day, Vegeta had decided to give her some additional tasks to complete after dinner, since she had graduated from washing those dishes, deeming them a waste of her time, and had ordered her to knock on the gravity chamber when she had finished eating. He still ate much faster than her, but it probably had to do with her clinging to her feminine side.

He could tell she was frustrated, anyone could tell, but what he required of her was necessary, and so he shut off the gravity at the loud banging on the chamber door. He walked over to said door, and swung it open to find an infuriated woman standing there. "Took you long-"

She didn't even let him talk. "Shut up, Vegeta!" She spat, pointing a finger threateningly. Her tail thrashed to and fro to emphasize her anger. "I've had it with you and your ordering me around! I don't need to keep going with these pointless menial tasks, I swear to god you get some sort of perverse pleasure out of seeing me worthless chores!" She pushed past him and used her foot to shove the chamber door shut, mostly so the whole city wouldn't hear their argument.

"Woman, don't be foolish." He responded sharply, lifting his nose in his arrogance. Surely she must be jesting! As if she could come off as intimidating to him!

"You are such an asshole, Vegeta!" She shouted, not even caring that the sound of her own voices as it reverberated off the metal walls caused her ears to want to collapse. "All you've done since this shit happened was order me around like some sort of servant! No one seems to give a shit that I may be feeling hurt over the fact that my entire life has been a lie! How would you feel, huh? Oh that's right, mister high and mighty doesn't even HAVE feelings, does he?" The rage in her voice and her expression was tangible, and hung in the air heavily.

Vegeta said nothing, but he did turn his head to look at her, one brow rising in inquiry. He had admittedly been a little wrapped up in getting her to be able to live somewhat comfortably within her 'new' body that he hadn't really considered her inner turmoil. He could see it in her eyes, in her posture as she stood with her knees slightly bent, and her hands grasped into fists. Her tail was the most telling of her emotions, and its thrashing wasn't lost to him.

The fact that he just stood there, staring at her was probably the most hurtful thing to her. She felt the rage inside of her build, and finally overflow. "What's wrong with you!" She shouted, lunging at him with a speed she hadn't even estimated. "SAY SOMETHING!" She shrieked, plowing her fists into his chest and his face, not caring that his ki was there to shield her blows. Tears fell down her cheeks as she screamed and thrashed at him, desperately trying to damage him in at least some way.

He had actually been somewhat surprised by her sudden attack, and even skid back a few feet as she tackled him. She was not nearly at the caliber he was strength-wise, but she was strong regardless. That, coupled with the fact that she had somewhat stunned him with her assault had caused his ki to waver for a brief moment, and he was greeted with her fist on his cheek, and the sting of pain that followed. He blinked a few times at that momentary lapse, lifting a hand to touch the red spot on his cheek that was sure to bruise, before shifting his gaze down to the infuriated woman.

This was his fault, in part, and he knew it. She had not once since she had regrown her tail shown a hint of grief or anger for all the news. She hadn't dealt properly with the fact that her entire life was going to change, because he hadn't exactly given her a chance to, and here she was, releasing that rage unto the only being on the planet who, at least in his opinion, she felt she could. Sure, she could have gone to that fool Kakkarot, but he hadn't been there for all that Vegeta had been putting her through, and he wasn't stupid enough not to realize that he deserved that shiner on his cheek.

He chided himself on how he'd gone about the entire situation, but it was too late now. He waited then, until she had begun to tire, and reached out to grab her wrists moving to pin her against the closest wall as a means to stop her thrashing.

Bulma had calmed soon after, her face red, and her eyes bloodshot from the tears she had shed, a few of them still finding their way down her cheeks as she fell silent, her eyes now focusing on the image of the Prince before him, and only now noticing the red mark on his face. Had she actually managed to strike him? She stared in shock at him, at the intensity of his gaze, and she fell still, her jaw hung open in shock mostly at herself than at Vegeta.

"Feel better now?" He inquired in a tone that seemed near impossible to place, before leaning forward to rest his forehead against hers, inhaling her scent. It had been so long since he'd been this close to her, but it certainly wasn't the time for him to intoxicate himself in her aroma. "I will demand no more chores for you." He stated, trying his damnedest to not show how effected he was by the tail that brushed against his shin, and had wrapped around his leg briefly as he informed her of her freedom. By the look on her face, she wasn't even aware she was doing it. He suppressed the shiver that threatened to snake it's way up his spine.

She stared at him for a long time, warring with the emotions inside of her. She couldn't place the look in his eyes, maybe because she'd never seen it before. Was it guilt? Was this his way of apologizing to her? Her cheeks lit up a pink color when she realized just how close he was to her. He felt the press of his forehead against hers, which did little more than cause more of those warring emotions to stir.

Without warning, he released her wrists, and backed away, turning his back to her, and looking towards the door to the chamber. "You won't be helping yourself at all by staying here, Onna." He said suddenly, letting out a sigh. "We need to leave this place, at least until you've figured things out."

She shook her head quickly as if to shake herself back to reality, and rubbed her wrists instinctively, even though they hadn't been harmed. "Wait, what? We? ..Where?" He wanted her to go with him somewhere? That was a new one, and where on earth could they possibly go? "What do you mean we?"

He rolled his eyes at the absurdity of the inquiry. "Really, Onna, I means that I'm going with you." He huffed, looking over his shoulder at the dumbfounded woman. "And we're leaving this rock. It's the only way you'll sort that mess of a head of yours out without being pestered by any of those ridiculous friends of yours or that so-called family."

Bulma fell silent then, her head lowering as she contemplated the weight of his demand. Back into space? Well, at least the fear of Frieza being there to greet them was no longer there, so it wasn't as if she felt unsafe, but her last venture in space had left her at least a little wary of ever wanting to go back out there.

Vegeta turned to face her and immediately realized her apprehension. "Onna, there's not many beings in the universe that will come close to my strength, nothing would happen to you.. And besides that, whether you have fighting skills or not is irrelevant. The sight of your tail alone will keep most creatures from wanting to even look at you the wrong way." He stated, before continuing. "And on that topic, do you know how dangerous it is to keep that thing out all the time? Wrap it around your waist before you get it caught in a door or bitten by a dog or something!" He said in his exasperation.

Bulma lifted herself away from the wall, and pointed a finger threateningly, not that she thought it would have any effect on him. "I will do no such thing. I happen to like my figure and I'm not going to do anything to make my hips look big! Hmph!" She finished, folding her own arms across her chest, and turning her head away in defiance. Her tail gave a few little lashes to emphasize her point. "Besides, I think it looks better this way." She said in her usual, snobbish tone, turning her nose up to give him a taste of his own arrogant medicine.

He snorted, and turned away from her again, hiding the obvious hit to his pride that she probably hadn't realized he took at her comment. It wasn't her fault, after all, but if he ever caught sight of that fat fuck that took his pride from him, there would be no stopping his vengeance. "Gah! Onna, just go get whatever you need for departure, and don't you dare let me catch you bringing an obscene amount of clothing. Only bring what is absolutely necessary! You understand me? We leave an hour after breakfast. Do not be late, and do not say anything to those humans!" He didn't even bother looking at her as he spoke, but he could almost smell the irritation radiating off her.

"What would you know about what is a necessity to a woman, Vegeta? Nothing!" She shouted, before storming out of the Gravity Chamber, and into the house, not caring that she nearly destroyed the door as she slammed it on her way in.

_I've clearly gone insane. _Vegeta thought to himself. He was probably right, too. He had to be to be going on any sort of interstellar venture with the likes of one Bulma Briefs, saiya-jin or not. His body ached from the close contact he'd just shared, and he would have to be mindful of his actions. It took more effort and willpower than he'd of liked to admit to keep himself from taking her on the wall of the damn chamber after her impressive display of the beast within when he had unintentionally set her off.

Regardless, he still had to ascertain exactly how to go about... Breaking to her exactly what it was she was doing to him. She wasn't even aware of any of it, that much he knew. This was going to be a very interesting, frustrating trip.

* * *

Author's Note: Woo! Things are getting even more interesting, yes?


	13. Chapter 13

So I've been watching a lot of the original Dragonball series lately. Oh my goodness Launch is like the greatest character ever. I honestly forgot how awesome she is. I know this has nothing to do with my story, but it's just a walk down memory lane. It's reminding me of a lot of the little quirks and habits that Bulma has, as well as her parents. I forgot that Dr. Briefs is a bit of a perv.

So, ok, this is kind of an odd chapter, but I really enjoyed writing it. Not much to say about it, but I didn't have a beta reader, so I hope I didn't have too many errors. I try to proofread as best I can but it's always better to have a second set of eyes.

Anyway, things are going to be a little out of this world. Har har I make terrible jokes! But yes, I hope you guys have a good read.

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

* * *

With the looming departure just one morning away, there would be no sleep for Bulma Briefs. For the first time since that fated day, she had made her way into the sub-level laboratory, long after her scientist team had left for their own homes for the day. There she would stay, burning the midnight oil with fierce determination along with a sudden strike of brilliance.

It wasn't until around three o'clock in the morning that she had finished, and proudly encapsulated her work, before heading off with many empty capsules to fill. What _she_ deemed as necessities were all stored away and the capsules placed into their respective cases, before tucking them away in a small backpack.

_Four o'clock... _She pondered to herself, going over again and again her internal checklist.. _Why am I doing this? Should I really be going out to Kami knows where all over the universe with that maniac? _She brought a finger to her lips as she thought. _Maniac? Can I really call him that anymore? I mean sure he's an arrogant jackass, but he's not all bad, right? I mean the way he was looking at me last night.---_

Her face lit up a bright pink at the thought, and she shook her head feverishly, attempting to swat her thoughts away. Still, as much as she tried to do so, again they came back to each time he had done something considerate or nice for her, knowingly or not. It wasn't like her to be plagued with thoughts like these, even when she had been with Yamcha.

_Augh! Get it together, Bulma! You're not some immature schoolgirl! Don't be fooled by that arrogant pig! He won't get the best of you! _She chanted to herself as she gathered up her backpack, taking a few more moments to make sure she had the capsules she needed before heading downstairs and out towards the yard, where Vegeta was sure to be waiting.

* * *

Vegeta didn't get much more sleep than Bulma**.** He wasn't stupid to not notice she had buried herself inside her lab for most of the night. Don't get him wrong, he wasn't worried, but after a shower and some calming stretches, he had determined himself too restless to sleep. One night without rest was nothing for him, after all, though he wasn't entirely certain it was the greatest idea for the woman. It wasn't his business to get involved, however.

He had begun to regret this decision. It was rash. He had been planning on retreating to the solitude of space alone so he could train in peace, but his hormones had another idea. He wasn't going to even be able to use the gravity, because that accursed woman would not be able to handle the levels he had pushed himself to withstand.

He continued to curse himself and tried to think of a way to tell her that she should stay so he could leave alone**.** At least those were his thoughts until the sound of the door opening broke him out of his concentration. His gaze shifted to take in the silhouetted figure of his travel companion to be.

She wasn't wearing any ridiculous space suit like she was on Namek, however, she did look like she had dressed for travel. Her shorts were a lot less revealing than their usual fare. It was a dark green, and went only a little past her knees. They were baggy and from what he could tell**,** resembled the style that a lot of human military wore, with the deep pockets on the sides, and held loosely at her hips by a leather belt. Her shirt matched the bottoms, though of a more feminine style, hugging her body only enough to show her curves, with a pocket over each breast. Slung over her shoulder was a black backpack, and her hair was tied back into a long, flowing pony tail, leaving only a few strands left framing her face.

It wasn't her attire that struck him, it was her expression, her composure. She seemed so determined; so completely stoic. It had probably been the first time it had struck him how saiya-jin she really was, even though she had been raised on this weak, backwater planet. It was that strength she showed him in something as simple as her expression that caused his decision to send her away to falter. As lovely as she was**,** when she was feminine, it was when she had this kind of fire in her that caused the beast inside of him to howl in praise and claw at his composure.

Her tail swung to and fro behind her once more as she regarded him with the tilt of her head, tugging on her bag once or twice to cause the capsule containers to clack together.

"I told you not to bring anything that wasn't necessary, Onna." He stated, his state of his shock only half contained as he did so.

"Oh please, as if capsules will take up that much space. I assure you everything I brought was necessary." She reassured him. Silence fell between them for a moment, before he turned and started heading towards the Gravity Chamber. She reached out for him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Stop." She said sternly.

His eye twitched somewhat. "What is it, Onna? Changing your mind already? I told you already that I will not let anything hap-"

"Oh shut up for once and listen to me!" She spouted, digging through her bag to withdraw one of the capsule containers. She opened the container and withdrew a capsule. "We're not going to take that old busted thing into space." She stated simply, depressing the button on the capsule, and tossing it onto the ground a few yards away.

With a resounding boom, the smoke cleared to reveal what seemed to be a larger, newer version of the gravity chamber. "I was working on this before all of that... Mess happened. I finished it and did some necessary adjustments for the trip. It's all stocked and has full fuel and reserve tanks. I figured it'd be better than the old model to take."

Vegeta stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned his head back to observe the large craft, one brow rising momentarily as he examined the exterior. From what he could tell the hull seemed significantly stronger, and the propulsion system looked more advanced, which was always a plus. The size was a little ungainly for the compounds' yard, but it wasn't going to stay there for long anyway. While he did wonder the gravity capabilities of the craft, he doubted he'd have a chance to take advantage of it.

"Well? You just going to stand there all morning or are you gonna let me show you some of the new features?" She quipped, pressing a button on a remote to lower the ramp, before she stalked on board, a bewildered Prince following behind her.

Once inside, she shut the craft door/ramp, and powered on what she had deemed.. "Capsule Beta. It's got four levels, all of which will be effected by the gravity. The first level, this one, is the main training level. It doesn't have anything fancy as far as accessories since I know that space is a concern for you.. It's been stocked with bots for you to work with of newer models, so hopefully they'll last a while. The level above us is a more contained space that's also effected by the gravity. There's less space up there but it's the main cockpit area for navigation and such. I meant to make all except this main floor unaffected by gravity but I lacked the time to do so..." She paused, looking back to see if he was even still paying attention before continuing. He was, so she continued on like she hadn't even stopped.

"There's two levels below us. The first one below us is storage and a kitchen area. They are pretty self-explanatory. The one below that is living quarters, enough for three people, and a bathing area. There's only one bath, but each living quarters has a bathroom with a shower stall."

He grunted in response, more than mildly impressed by her ingenuity. Most saiya-jins were not so technically inclined, so it seemed to be the _one_ benefit of her having grown up on Earth. Regardless, the fact that he could not use the gravity was going to be a problem. "Hmph. So because you failed to safeguard the other rooms, the gravity will be useless." He grumbled, shaking his head and ascending the ladder to the cockpit in order to engage the craft.

Bulma just stood in the middle of the main training room and shook her head, hands planted on her hips. She was going to let him be grumpy about her technology for now. She'd break out a few of her new toys after they'd gotten out of the atmosphere.

She descended into the living quarters area of the Capsule Beta, and chose her room. All of the rooms were identical in size and shape, so she just chose the one furthest from the stairway, and marked her name with a marker on that specific door. Vegeta could choose whichever other one he pleased.

* * *

Bunny and Dr. Briefs had only just awakened to the sound of the craft engaging thrusters, and the both of them headed to the closest window to watch. Bunny had been holding a watering can in her hands, her husband stuffing his hands into a robe, and shuffling through the pockets for his cigarettes.

"Oh my, so they're leaving after all, hmm? I do hope she decides to come back. What do you think, Bunny dear?"

Bunny just smiled in her usual cheerful way. "Oh she'll be back, both of them will! I do hope they bring home some grandchildren!" This woman surely has a few bolts loose.

* * *

She had secured the interior system well enough that the only turbulence they could feel while exiting the Earth's atmosphere was little more than a small rumble. It was a vast improvement from the previous model. It had been one of her main concerns, and she had planned to make a few of them in case Goku and the others ended up having to leave Earth for whatever reason again.

When Vegeta had descended the stairway after setting in coordinates, he was surprised to see Bulma there waiting for him in the main training area, a few odd devices set out on a small counter against the wall. He stopped once he got to the bottom of the stairs, and gave her a rather irritated look, as if her presence was a hindrance to her.

"Alright then, grumpy. Don't have any faith in me." She teased, before lifting what seemed to be two odd looking rings off the table. "I'm sorry, you're right, I couldn't safeguard the other levels, that kind of work is pretty extensive and would take much more time than I had. But I created a great alternative." She slid the rings over each of her wrists, and hit a small red button on each. They vibrated a moment, the console behind the Prince from the reactor in the center of the room bleeping in response.

Vegeta turned too view the console, not exactly understanding what had just occurred. The gravity didn't seem to be turned on any more than earths' normal gravity.

"Engage the gravity at your training level." She said suddenly.

He looked at her, dumbfounded for a moment, before shouting. "Are you mad, Onna? You may be saiya-jin but your body is not conditioned to handle that kind of gravity! It would crush you in an instant!"

She lifted her index finger and shook it in a scolding manner. "Tsk Tsk, Vegeta. You have no faith in me! Now please, if you will. Do as I ask, and for once in your life, trust me!"

He stared at her for a good few moments, before hesitantly turning towards the console. While he didn't engage it to it's full capacity, he did turn it to 300 times Earth's gravity, as if it might lessen the blow that she would surely take. He felt the familiar pull on his body, and it took him merely a moment to allow his body to adjust before he turned to face Bulma...

There she stood, in the same position she had been in before he turned on the gravity, seemingly completely unaffected by the effects. Surely she could not simply be that strong! "H—How could you..?" He stammered in disbelief.

She pointed to the devices on her wrists, which hummed quietly. "I'm a genius, that's how! I managed to create these babies last night, they are kind of like a personal gravity machine, but they only work when they're in range of the main reactor of the craft. This way, you can train all you need to without worrying about me. These babies can counteract the max gravity capacity of this craft, which is 1200. That's a good 200 higher than the smaller one at home, right?" She winked at him knowingly, before leaning against the wall in triumph.

He was impressed, even if he didn't show it. Not only that, but she had once again gone out of her way to please him, as well as show him her prowess. She may not have been the strongest physically, but she sure as hell was of strong mind, and that was almost as valuable, if not more so. "So, can this device of yours change your gravity to other levels as well?" He inquired finally.

She nodded quietly. "Yes, the levels can be adjusted if I wanted to, why?"

"Because it would be beneficial for you to train under increased gravity." He stated simply. He wasn't going to beat around the bush, that wasn't who he was.

"Vegeta, you know I'm not the type to go head first into a fight. I'm not a fighter, Saiya-jin or not. I really don't--"

"Onna, it would be in your best interest to hone your ki. You may be able to control your strength but that doesn't mean you're safe out here. If you don't have means to exert your aggression you will explode like you did at the weakling." He waved a hand in a manner to further emphasize his point. He approached her steadily, stopping merely inches from her, reaching out with one hand to touch her chin, and lift it somewhat. "It would be good for your body, and for your sanity. We're going to be trapped here for over a week at least before we reach our first destination."

She hadn't noticed his hand as it pushed a few buttons on one of the rings until it beeped in a telling manner, and the horrible pull of 20 times earths' gravity hit her. "Yaaagh!" She yelped, as she nearly met the floor face-first, her hands planting themselves on the tiles, keeping her from her nosebleed... She caught a glimpse of Vegeta stalking away towards the main console to adjust his gravity without so much as a word. "Y—You little sneak! I'll get you for that!"

He just shook his head, and pointed towards the stairs that led down. "It's not that much gravity, Onna. You can handle it. I challenge you to make breakfast under 20 times Earth's gravity." He chuckled, before engaging his higher gravity, and nearly meeting the floor himself as he did so.

She grumbled, and began slowly dragging herself to her feet, finding it more difficult than she had thought to stand upright. "Challenge, huh? You know how to push my buttons a little too well, mister. Well I'll show you! I'll make you speechless like you were just a minute ago. Hah!" She spat, her heavy footsteps heard as she carried herself slowly down the stairs to the kitchen and storage level below her.

That's right. Vegeta knew how to motivate her, but it was for her own good.. And hell, he was going to get breakfast out of it... Though he knew it would be coming late.

It was amazing how quickly her body began to adjust. At first, even just gathering the items for breakfast for the both of them was an incredible task, and she grunted and swore so much that a sailor would blush at her profanity. But after a while she began to move more fluidly, no longer having to throw each limb as she moved. It was oddly satisfying to see herself adjust to the gravity, but she sure as hell wasn't going to admit that to the jackass upstairs.

It actually only took her an hour longer than normal to make breakfast, or rather, she completed it an hour after it's normal due time, but by the time she had finished, the gravity didn't feel like it was going to crush her. Sure, she still felt it, and she still dragged a little, but she no longer felt like there was a ten ton weight on each of her extremities.

"Hey jackass! Turn that crap off and come eat breakfast before I eat it for you!" She shouted up the staircase, and was greeted by a few curses in a language she didn't comprehend. She just let out a 'hmph' of arrogance, and adjusted her own gravity. She wasn't going to eat in increased gravity, after all.

She hadn't noticed the fact that He had occasionally peered down the stairway to check on her progress, and for that he was happy. He had been pleased at her progress, to say the least. From what he heard, Kakkarot hadn't been quite as good at adjusting to even half that gravity when he was training back before Vegeta and his bald counterpart had arrived. Anyway, the point was, he was going to have to make a mental note to give her a bit better training than simply giving her chores. She would learn to at least defend herself aside from thrashing wildly, whether she liked it or not.

* * *

The days would pass this way, with Bulma greeting Vegeta in the morning, Vegeta adjusting her gravity accordingly, and Bulma grudgingly made breakfast for both of them. After they ate, Vegeta, the drill sergeant that he was**,** would assign a few bots to a low level setting for her to fight. He wasn't going to teach her to fight; he was going to let her learn on her own. It was in her genes, in her blood, and she could do it. He wasn't expecting her to be able to adjust her ki levels or even concentrate them into an attack, but the least she could manage to do is learn how to hit, kick, and dodge without looking like a fumbling idiot.

Of course, the only downside to this is that she would often come out of it looking quite beaten and bruised. It wasn't that he had underestimated her skill, it's that he knew she had none, and there was little he could teach her that she couldn't simply learn by doing. He wasn't a teacher, after all. Occasionally, he'd bark at her how weak she was, knowing just the right way to yank her chain of motivation in the right direction without making it blatant that it was his way of helping her.

However, on their sixth day of travel, he had increased her to 60 times earths' gravity, which was quite a jump from the 20, 25, and 30 she had become accustomed to**. **Vegeta had decided t**o** turned up the battle level of the bots he had assigned to her slightly as well. This, though he would never admit it aloud to another single soul, probably wasn't the greatest idea he'd ever had.

Perhaps he expected too much of her, or perhaps he had grown impatient with her slow progress. Maybe he just set the bar to his own standards of progression, or perhaps it was just that he truly thought she could handle it. No one would really know**, **not even Vegeta. All Bulma knew was that she was really struggling badly that day. It probably did not help that she had been sneaking up at night to practice, to show him she could do better, to show him she wasn't worthless**,** and, as he put it, 'too poisoned by the earthlings' laziness to be of any use as a saiya-jin'. Perhaps**,** he had pondered later, he'd been a little too vicious in his verbal assault.

Breakfast took a lot longer than usual, and she had barely made it up the stairs into the training area. Vegeta always made it look so easy, and Bulma found herself struggling in every moment she made in order to complete even the simplest tasks. It took every last inch of strength she had to avoid the bots as they drove at her, sweat pouring from her pores as she moved. Her tail was limp, and her chest heaved, taking in short, sharp, pained breaths as she moved. Every last inch of her screamed for rest, but her brain wouldn't process it. She had been blinded by Vegeta's goading, being the stubborn creature she was. She could feel the bile rising in her throat and the blinding lightheaded feeling struck her soon after. This wasn't going to be good...

Vegeta hadn't even been paying attention. He had given her one side of the training room, deeming the other side more than enough for his needs, and had been too wrapped up in his own extreme training regime to pay attention to how she was faring. It wasn't until a horrible stench reached his nostrils and the sounds that reached his ears that were just as discerning to make him glance over her way out of curiosity to what was making his senses go off. The reality of the situation hit him immediately, and he turned to take in the rather disgusting sight in full veiw rather than a sideways glance.

There she was, on all fours, retching her breakfast onto the floor**. **Her limbs trembled while the bots continued to dive into her repeatedly. She didn't budge, though the mess she was still making slowly began to spread.

He immediately disengaged his own gravity, and hers via the remote console controls, and deactivated the robots. "Onna! Onna, what's wrong with you? Saiya-jins don't get sick!" He stated, which was probably a dumb thing to say. Obviously, she was sick in some way. He waited for her to finish releasing her breakfast unto the floor, before quickly removing her from her vomit before she fell completely into it, tossing her over his shoulder, despite her rather sluggish attempts to retaliate.

The prince carried her into her room, setting her down, clothing and all, in her shower stall within her bathroom before turning on the water. She just lay there like a slug, her head set against the tiles, and her mouth agape, occasionally spitting out some of the water that gathered in her mouth in an attempt to rid the horrible taste from her mouth.

He regarded her as she lay there, and the paleness of her skin, the bags under her eyes, and the way each of her limbs trembled, even under normal gravity. He wasn't stupid, he had noticed her little nighttime excursions, but he hadn't exactly calculated the number it was doing on her body. He had actually felt it had been a good thing to see her so motivated**.** Vegeta silently cursed himself for not noticing her deterioration.

"Onna, you will not be training until after we leave our destination. That's about four days time." He paused, waiting until she was thoroughly clean of her.. Mess, before turning off the water. The Prince lifted her off the floor then, and helped her to the bedroom portion of her quarters, motioning to her closet. "Choose something to wear and change." He commanded, turning away from her to give her the privacy he knew she would require.

She moved slowly, her mind in a daze and her body aching. Hell, was it possible for your hair to ache? Because if it was, she sure as hell had a hairache. She just snatched what she deemed comfortable out of her closet and climbed into them, depositing the now dripping wet clothes in a basket nearby, before collapsing onto her bed nearby without so much as a word of thanks to Vegeta. She was out like a light moments later.

He felt guilty, at least somewhat, but he'd be damned if he showed it, at least not while she was conscious enough to notice. He watched her sleep for a few moments, reaching a hand out to touch her forehead. He hissed through his teeth at the burning flesh he felt, and let out a few mumbles, mostly insulting himself, for being blind to her. She wasn't helpless, but he knew how it felt to push himself too hard as a result of someone's insults. She had been more than accommodating to him when he had pushed himself too hard and damn near blew himself up, as well as her entire home. He had felt rather foolish for not realizing she had done the same thing to herself, thanks to him.

Vegeta brushed a few azure strands from out of her face, tucking them behind her ear, and stared for a good few moments, examining what skin he could see without removing her garments for any wounds. Aside from bruises and a few cuts, there didn't seem to be any serious damage, just the illness of overworking one's body beyond what it was meant to, without the proper rest.

Satisfied that she seemed content to rest, he exited the quarters, and retreated upstairs to... clean the mess before it got even more disgusting. That was probably the most demeaning thing he had ever done, but at least there was no one there to witness him. He was no maid, but she was not in any condition to clean it herself, much to his dismay.

Once the mess was cleaned and he was certain he could no longer smell the stench of it, he double-checked the gravity setting on Bulma's bracers, before returning to his training, at least until he caught wind of her waking. He sure as hell wasn't going to wait on her hand and food, but he did go downstairs to tell her to feed herself, before heading back up, only glancing downstairs to make sure she had listened to his orders. Once he was satisfied at the sound of her milling about the storage area for whatever food she was going to eat, he had simply returned to his training, trying a little too hard not to think about just how bad he actually felt about what had happened to her.

_Damn it, I haven't mated the woman, there's no reason I should be so distracted! There's been no bond formed. _While it wasn't unheard of for two potential mates to form a very weak form of a bond prior to mating, he hadn't though his mental state so 'weak' as to be susceptible to that kind of occurrence. It would be little more than a weak emotional pull, and perhaps the desire to be in their presence a bit more than usual.. But it was distracting even if that wasn't the case.

Every moment that passed he warred with himself on whether or not he really wanted her to be there. Whether he regretted bringing her along... Was it even in his benefit? Why had he such a desire to have her come when she was clearly hindering his progress? The other half of him argued its' blatant need to have her, and her very clear indications and instinctive need to impress him, which made him want to show off his own proverbial plumage to her in return. Whoever said Saiya-jin mating traditions and instincts were simple needed a swift kick in the ass. It sure as hell was confusing Vegeta, and driving him up the wall.

* * *

Bulma hardly remembered what happened. She remembered being in pain, she remembered the nausea, and she remembered the cold water that hit her. She thought she heard Vegeta talking to her, and the next thing she knew, she was waking up in her bed with a horrible taste in her mouth. Her head pounded and her muscles ached, but at least she didn't feel the pull of increased gravity.

She thought she heard Vegeta enter, and say something about food, but she couldn't be sure. She pressed her face into her pillow and groaned in protest to the light that poured in from the small hallway, before begrudgingly dragging herself out of the bed. It was time to answer the telltale growl in her stomach. Apparently, she had lost her breakfast and it was past due for her to refill it.

After dragging herself to the bathroom to wet her face, which by the way felt amazing on her fevered head, she made her way upstairs and into the storage area. She could hear Vegeta training upstairs, but felt it best to not disturb him. She grabbed random foodstuffs off the shelves, and cooked whatever it was that she had chosen, sitting down at the small table to consume it.

She ate slowly, careful not to lose what nutrients she was taking in, not even noticing the Prince when he made his way downstairs, and chose food for himself to eat, purposely choosing for himself food that did not need to be prepared to eat, such as canned vegetables, dried foods, fruits, or whatever else he could find. He wasn't picky.

It wasn't until she looked up from the table that she saw him there, and offered him a weak smile, before hitting a few buttons on a console to allow the servo-bots to come out and clean the dishes. She sure as hell wasn't going to do it.

Vegeta eyed her as she finished her meal, making sure she retreated back to her room afterward. Satisfied with her silent compliance, he was able to return to his training with considerably less guilt hanging in the back of his mind. They'd be at Zakora in two days. By then she'd likely be feeling better, and he'd be able to acquire a very necessary piece of equipment. Until then, he'd allow her the rest her body required.

* * *

Author's note: Next week, Zakora-sei!


	14. Chapter 14

So, this chapter here is another one I've kind of been looking forward to. It's going to have a lot of insight into my stories' saiya-jin culture. Again, this is my take on it, my universe. I see a lot of trends, but I think my take specifically in how Saiya-jins go about choosing mates is fairly unique. At least I haven't read any other fics that share the same culture as mine. It's just how I picture it, with the men having so much control over the structure of society, the females have an advantage in mating.

It'll be interesting to write out their struggle.. Or rather, Vegeta's stubbornness to his own instincts. Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

Chapter Fourteen

* * *

Two days trapped in that hellhole with no means of entertainment was all it took for Bulma to realize the gravity of Vegeta's words. Without her body in any condition to train, she had very little to do to pass the time. It was probably the only time in her life that she would ever admit that fighting those mechanical menaces she created under the effects of increased gravity would be a great alternative to what she was currently being subjected to. Sure, she could work on some projects or blueprints, but for once in her life she felt a lack of inspiration or motivation to do so.

Bulma felt like a complete housemaid, but considering that Vegeta had actually done something at least somewhat considerate for her, she didn't complain when he had more or less commanded her to prepare meals instead of allowing the servo-bots that were on board to do so for them. She could not quite understand his logic in that. Cooking was by no means stressful, at least under normal gravity, but what difference did it make who did the cooking? It wasn't like it was good exercise or anything, but st least it gave her something to do.

Still, as the time passed, with her only real company being the grunts and curses from Vegeta as he trained upstairs, she began to wonder whether or not this venture was really worthwhile. Why had Vegeta insisted she come along in the first place? It wasn't as if she was any use to him, aside from being a mechanic in case he broke something, but he had gone out in space in one of her gravity capsules before, it wasn't like he didn't know how to properly care for his spacecraft. She kind of felt like extra baggage now, not that she felt particularly useful before she had gotten herself sick, but she had no one to blame but herself for that whole mess.

According to the Prince, they would be arriving at Zakorasei soon. Vegeta would not elaborate on what kind of planet it was, who inhabited it, or why they were even going there. In fact, he hadn't told her much of anything. She was lucky enough to even get the courtesy of knowing the name of the planet they were going to, not that it made any difference. That was typical of Vegeta though, and she had yet to formulate a plan to extract the information from him. It probably wasn't going to be worth the effort anyway, considering they would be there soon enough, and she would likely find out first hand.

Bulma had been lost in thought so long, her nose began to catch the beginning signs of the food she was cooking burning, and quickly fumbled to her feet from the small table in the kitchen area, quickly removing the meat off of the pans they were located on, before replacing the now empty pans with more food. It was a lot of cooking to sate the both of them, mostly Vegeta, though. He ate quite a bit more than her considering all she was doing was cooking and maybe fumbling around with some gadgets in her room for a while. Nothing altogether too strenuous. If anything it just made her restless. She didn't mind working in the labs at home so much because at least there she had the option of going outside, walking around, or simply leaving the compound. Unfortunately for Bulma, she did not have that option here in the dead of space, trapped with who is likely the least entertaining travel companion in all the galaxy.

_Man. Ever since we left all he's done is act like I'm imposing on him or something! If he didn't want me to come he should have just left without me, that spoiled little jerk! _She fumed to herself, idly stabbing the meat on the pan as she did so, and occasionally checking into each of the ovens at what had been cooking inside. It was almost lunchtime, and she was already running late on cooking. _God help that jerk if he comes down here acting all indignant on me for not cooking fast enough! _She thought, shaking the thoughts out of her head before she became too angry and distracted and end up burning more food or worse, herself.

* * *

Vegeta had figured two things when he had commanded Bulma to cook their meals: First, that without something to do to pass the time, the blue-haired witch would try and bother _him_, thus interrupting his training time. Second, he definitely preferred the taste of cooking from an actual living being as opposed to one produced by a robot. It always tended to have a touch that he just couldn't place. Even if he looked like he was just inhaling his food, he actually did taste what was being put in his mouth, and had his preferences. Bulma had to know that much, since she had so long ago pinpointed what his preferred meals were.

The only downside to the kitchen being separated only by an open stairway to the training room was that as soon as she had begun cooking, he could smell it. As the hours passed, the fragrance of the upcoming meal had begun to tug at Vegeta, and had caused him to become distracted enough for the battle bots to get some cheap shots on him on more than one occasion. This couldn't be helped, and it wasn't like there was a human technology to instantly prepare food, but it didn't mean that he was going to be able to get used to it.

Twelve o'clock Earth time was when they were due for Lunch, and the telltale sounds of the gravity reactor winding down was surely enough warning for the woman whom Vegeta could tell was still milling about in the kitchen downstairs. He grabbed the shirt he had removed prior to his training and tugged it on, not even wincing at the pain from his bruises and cuts. He had been careless, letting something as simple as the smell of the woman's cooking pull his attentions away from training before he was due to eat. It was an amateur mistake, and certainly one that he would never admit to.

Vegeta quietly descended the stairs, stopping at the bottom step to observe the scene before him. There she was, bent over the three stoves, each burner full with food simmering on pans. Her hair was tied back into a tightly wound bun, with only a few strands hanging down in the back, and her face was twisted in concentration, as if she was attempting to will the food to cook faster. It was almost amusing enough to let the fact that she wasn't done with his meal in time pass.. Almost.

"Cooking is that difficult for your brain now? Don't tell me you've degenerated so far already. Perhaps I underestimated your intellect, Onna.." He scoffed, walking over to what he had deemed his place at the small three-person table, before settling down. There was some food there already, but not nearly enough for the two of them.

Bulma stood upright suddenly, planting one hand on her hip, which leaned to the opposite side as she did so. "Well excuse me, your Majesty. I'm not your servant, you're lucky I even agreed to do this, especially considering you didn't even ask nicely. If I wasn't so _bored _ in this thing I would have told you to stuff it!" She spouted with the usual amount of venom in her voice.

Bulma turned back to the stove with a huff, and began emptying the pans' contents into their respective plates. She set them all up on the table, and then turned her attention to the ovens, which were also filled with various foodstuffs. She withdrew each pan, pot, or sheet that was in them, cut what needed to be cut into portion sizes, and added them to the collection on the table.

"Besides.." She said. "I was almost done anyway, see? You didn't even have to wait more than a couple minutes, so how about you have a little patience next time, huh?" Bulma huffed, before settling down in her own seat to begin consuming the meal she worked so hard to prepare, but not before giving him a rather fiery glare.

"Hn.." Vegeta grunted, already taking upon the task of consuming his meal. He had noticed that even though he never asked, Bulma always threw in a few of his favorite dishes into every meal she cooked, and he realized that it could not possibly have been a coincidence. Even when Vegeta had done his best to distance himself or simply act like a complete bastard, she still surprised him with random nice gifts, unspoken, and without an ounce of gratitude from the Prince. He wasn't the type to speak his thanks, after all.

It was true that Bulma had sought to appease him in some form just about every day, mostly with little things like what she cooked.. It was mostly because she enjoyed that occasional rare glimpse at a side of him he swore he didn't have. Bulma Briefs wasn't blind, and she sure as hell wasn't stupid. She knew a nice deed when she saw one, and he had surprised her with them more than once, even if he had sworn it was for his own selfish needs.

Suffice to say Bulma had grown unusually attached to the stubborn Prince, enough so that even the quiet peace between them as they ate was a comfort to her. She noticed things about him, the way he ate, the way he carried himself, and even the look hidden behind his expression when she did something to shock, please, or otherwise impress him. Most of what she did she told herself was to show him up, to prove him wrong or to prove that people from the planet she had been raised on were worth more than what he thought they were. That wasn't entirely true. There was in fact a force within her that drove her to seek him out. To be in his company. To chance an opportunity to be close to him and intoxicate herself in his scent. The very thought of it had been shoved to her subconscious a long time ago.

Bulma had been raised on earth, and even if these things _were_ happening to her, she refused to acknowledge them. She didn't know what they were, or why, and all she could do was explain it to herself in terms a human would be able to understand, even if she wasn't one. It was the only way she was able to cope with the myriad of strange feelings and sensations that had taken her. And no, she wasn't stupid, it was far beyond that human period of puberty, it was much deeper than that.

* * *

Once the two of them had finished their meal, Bulma entered the commands on a small remote to signal the servo-bots to clean up the dishes. Soon after, the telltale beeps of the comm system began to ring throughout the craft. The both of them ascended to the cockpit level, and each sat in their respective seat.

A bunch of universal standard began to fill the screens, and Vegeta's digits danced over the communication board in response.. On the view screen, Bulma observed what looked to be a large gray planet. There didn't seem to be any signs of visible land masses, or rather, there didn't seem to be any signs of bodies of water.

"What kind of planet is that?" She inquired, recognizing some of the script that was scrolling past as some form of landing clearance.

"It's a commerce and industry planet, Onna. Just wait and see for yourself." Vegeta said bluntly, leaning back somewhat in his seat as the spacecraft began auto-descent towards it's determined landing platform.

As the ship passed through the atmosphere, the clouds gave way to what Bulma could only describe as a giant city. There was skyscrapers as far as the eye could see, going higher than any that were even possible on Earth. The buildings were connected via walkways of all sorts, and all sorts of aircrafts flew about, both personal sized and mass transit sized, carrying passengers to their various destinations. There wasn't even any sign of wildlife or even plant life, aside from the occasional odd tree or garden on various buildings, on balconies, or in specially designed greenhouses.

Bulma fell silent as she observed it all, only breaking out of her trance as she felt the sudden stop as Capsule Beta landed in a large hangar, which was located between many tall buildings, obscuring her ability to see anything more. She pouted, but only for a moment, before she noticed her travel companion descending the stairs.

Bulma followed only as far as the kitchen, stopping to watch the servo-bots as they worked to clean, unhindered by the sudden landing, and waited. Vegeta emerged from downstairs moments later, having changed from his training attire to what remained of his saiya-jin battle armor. She had made an attempt to repair it some time ago, but she couldn't entirely replicate the exact material with what she had on earth, but at least it looked presentable now, no longer with large holes in the breastplate and such.

She said nothing, simply canting her head to the side as she watched Vegeta ascend to the main level, and quietly move to the door. He stopped right before it, and looked over his shoulder. "You will remain here. I have business to attend to, and someone needs to remain with the ship until I am done, lest the hangar crew impound the ship. Do not for any reason leave this ship." He finished, pushing the button to open the door and lower the ramp.

He had left the door open for whatever reason, but Bulma didn't seem to mind. She stood back from the door quite a ways, but narrowed her eyes and craned her head to watch Vegeta as he descended, and disappear into the crowd. She wasn't going to leave the craft if it meant losing it, that's for damn sure, even if he was a jerk about his request.

Bulma was quite intrigued by the plethora of alien creatures that milled about in the hanger, carrying crates, driving odd crane and forklift devices, or just entering and leaving via their various spacecrafts. At least this was giving her something to do while she waited for the Prince to return from whatever it was that was so important.

* * *

A few hours had passed, and she had begun to tire of watching the crowds. The day was winding down and there was less and less traffic in the hangar. There had been an idle thought in the back of her mind that wondered if something bad may have happened to Vegeta, but she was reminded soon after that he had said that no one in the galaxy could likely hold a candle to him now that Frieza and his ilk were dead, and that gave her comfort.

Before long, that familiar figure began to come into her line of vision, heading purposefully towards the ship, a familiar scowl etched upon his features. She just rolled her eyes at his normal level of arrogance, and the way any other creature who crossed his path simply skittered away like a frightened bug at the mere sight of him.

Deciding it wasn't worth her while to confront him on the manner, she just shook her head, and made her way down to the kitchen level before he reached the top of the ramp.

Not a word from him, nothing at all.. Vegeta just closed the ramp and the door, and began shuffling about in the training room.. It didn't surprise her, and she figured she'd bother him about what he had to do that took so long...

Still, Bulma couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right.. She stood in the middle of the kitchen area, trying to shove that feeling aside, until it hit her. It was so strong and horrible that she couldn't ignore it... Her nose crinkled in disgust and she found herself climbing the stairs..

There he was, thee Prince, idly reading a few documents in the training room as if nothing was out of place.. But no, something wasn't the way it should be.

It made Bulma anxious, and it made her downright angry. With as much speed and strength that she could muster, she launched at Vegeta, and tackled him against the wall, one hand grasping his neck, and her fingers digging dangerously into the flesh. She bared her canines in a vicious snarl, and growled as loudly and aggressively as she could. Her tail lashed back and forth in a threatening manner as she did so.

"Who are you?" She barked, using her free hand to lay a punch into his cheek.

'Vegeta' struggled visibly, and his hands grasped her arm, his legs kicking weakly as he gasped for air. "What-- Is--- Wrong—- with--- You-- Let – Me-- go!" The voice seemed the same, and his appearance was spot on, but she knew better. "I am Vege-"

Bulma didn't let him finish. She just drove her fist right into his gut, causing him to gasp and groan in pain. "Don't lie to me you trash! If you were Vegeta I wouldn't be able to pin your sorry ass against the wall so easily!" She observed carefully as whom she had deemed an impostor, it's eyes faltering for only a moment, becoming an odd shade of purple, before quickly changing back.

She roared in anger, sending another punch to the impostor's face, before using a foot to hit the open latch button, the door to the ship opening, and the ramp lowering...

* * *

Vegeta had found it odd that the ramp and door had been shut, but before he had even gotten a chance to input the open codes from his remote, the door opened and the ramp swung down.. Less than a second after, the battered form of what looked to be himself was tossed aggressively out the door, landing mere inches from his feet. He regarded his rather impressively detailed impostor for a moment, nudging his unconscious body with his boot, before looking up the ramp.

There Bulma stood, brushing off her hands and sticking her nose in the air in her familiar stubborn manner, arrogance radiating off of her that rivaled his own.

"Not bad, shape shifter, but you cannot fool a saiya-jin." He spat, holding out his palm and allowing a ball of ki to amass in front of it. He released the ki once Bulma had retreated back inside, leaving the creature whom had apparently invaded his craft without a head.

Vegeta ascended the ramp and closed it and the door on his way in, stopping to regard the woman, whom was stifling through a few documents on the floor. She had put the documents away in their rightful place, and stopped to look at him distrustfully for the briefest of moments, before her expression softened.

"How could you tell?" He inquired, already kind of knowing the answer.

She shook her head, and said without a care in the world. "He smelled terrible.. And I don't mean body odor. I mean he just.. Had an awful scent... While yours, well your scent is actually quite pleasing to the senses." She had no idea the weight of her statement, and looked at Vegeta in a rather baffled manner as she noticed a pink color radiating from his cheeks after she had said that.

"Uhm, is it something I said?" She inquired curiously, placing a hand on her hip.

Vegeta hesitated briefly. Bulma had flattered him immensely, and had no idea she had done so! Earth customs were so vague and frustratingly lenient. He warred with himself on whether or not to inform her of her own kinds' traditions, but in the end the need for her to understand his turmoil was beginning to win out. He marched over to her quickly, and lowered his head to her neck, inhaling her scent as deeply as he could manage, a rather low, steady growl rumbling in his chest.

Bulma was rather stunned by his sudden advance, and her eyes nearly watered as she was presented with his overwhelming scent, her tail reaching around and coiling around his shin, as if willing him to remain there. Still, her conscious mind had begun churning, and she spoke, albeit in a very raspy, hushed tone.. "I-- I don't understand.. What did I do?" It wasn't said with fear, mostly with confusion. Vegeta seemed to become so suddenly affectionate at what was to her the most random time.

Vegeta planted a hand on each of her hips, and shivered visibly when he felt her inhale his scent. It took him a few moments to gain his bearings enough to speak. He lifted his head, and stepped back from her, releasing her from his grip. His features were somewhat red from his mild intoxication. "You know nothing of your kinds' culture and instincts, so I will not fault you, Onna." He started simply, motioning downstairs towards the kitchen area, before heading down to sit down at the table as calmly as he could manage.

He waited for Bulma to follow, not continuing until she had settled down in a chair near him. "In saiya-jin culture, the males control much of society, this much is obvious. But not even the greatest of males, not even the King, or the Prince, has a choice in his own mate." Vegeta began his tale, his father's words ringing in his mind as if they were spoken yesterday. It was a speech he had been given at an early age, mostly because he had been sent out to Frieza shortly after, and there wasn't another opportunity for his father to tell him afterward.

"The females choose their mates, and there are criteria they choose, and instincts play a significant part." He made no eye contact as he spoke. "The first and foremost is scent. No other attribute matters but this. There were very, very few female saiya-jins, and in their lifetime they would be lucky to come across more than one male with an appealing scent. One, maybe two would cross their paths in a lifetime. Onna, there is no greater flattery in our kind than a female complimenting a male's scent. The scents of compatible mates are more potent than any alcohol or drug those humans could produce. It's an intoxicating effect that spurs the need to... Consummate when in close quarters, and consummating forms a very close and sacred bond that I cannot comprehend because I have not experienced it." He paused to gauge her reaction.

Bulma's face turned a bright pink, and she looked away in embarrassment. She had been, at least in saiya-jin standards, blatantly hitting on him? She was about to voice her apology, but Vegeta spoke before she could get a word out.

"This is not something you can control, Onna, or me. And there's more.." He leaned back in his seat, looking up at the ceiling momentarily, before looking back at her.. "The royal scent is incredibly potent, and finding a female who finds it appealing is all but impossible. According to my father, females within age of a newborn prince are brought before court, and their reactions to the prince's presence is gauged, because female saiya-jin infants react solely to scent. Meaning if the scent is not appealing, they will lash out in some form to voice their displeasure."

He looked away in discomfort. "This is to assure the line is continued. There is normally only one female born within 5 years of the prince's birth that will be pleased by his scent. Just one. If that female is killed, the prince will be celibate his entire life. Saiya-jins mate for life. There is no such thing as a whore in our kind. One mate, and for the royal family, it is a very serious issue."

Bulma shook here head, trying to make sense of it all.. "But I--" She was cut off again..

"My father told me all of this before I left to serve under Frieza. He also told me that he had found my compatible when I was only an infant, and had sent her to a safe location." Vegeta fell quiet at that point.

Bulma knit her brows together. This was a lot for her to absorb, however it did explain a lot of strange emotions and feelings she'd been having of late. Still, the realization hit her... If she found Vegeta's scent appealing, was _she _ the one that had been deemed compatible? She remembered him pondering why she had been sent away from Vegetasei, and mentioning that females were never sent away.. Still, there were more questions that needed answering..

"Well.. Wh-what else is there other than scent?" The curious side of her was rearing it's ugly head, that's for damn sure.

Vegeta turned his gaze back to her. "The female shows her interest by attempting to gain more opportunities to take in her chosen's scent.. Whether by picking a fight or more rarely by using more feminine means.. Then, there's usually a period of both parties proving their strength. This can be done through physical or mental means."

Bulma wasn't stupid, she knew what he was implying. She had been rather aggressive in proving herself to him lately, and the weight of it all hit her all at once. She instantly got on the defensive, standing from her chair, and clenching her fists. "You... Are you just trying to get me to buy all this just so you can attempt to-- because you know I--" She was quieted by a finger to her lips. Vegeta had come upon her so quickly that she didn't even see his movements.. He was so close again, and she fought the urge to breathe through her nose, lest she lose herself.

Vegeta spoke quietly, but sternly, his gaze boring down at her as she did so, to try and impose the truth of what he was going to say. "You are foolish if you think that. You have proven your strength to me, you have flattered and infatuated me, and you have clawed your way into my very soul.. And you did this well before I knew you were of my kind." He lowered his head, and buried his nose in her hair. "It is not I who can choose a mate, Onna. I am powerless to you in that respect. You make me weak, as any male would be trapped by a female as intoxicating as you."

Bulma's mind drifted to the periods prior to her encounter with Yamcha. He was right, he had been showing very clear signs of his infatuation, and she hadn't been stupid enough to think they were nothing, but in the weight of all the information he had just given her, she had lost her common sense. Now here he was, admitting to her of all people, a weakness. Probably the biggest sign of trust and need that he had ever shown her.

She lifted a hand to place under Vegeta's chin, willing his head to turn so she could see his face. It was the desire, that weakness that he showed in his expression that triggered something inside of her. It was this sudden awareness of his emotional state that she had never felt before. His scent seemed to change suddenly, and it filled her nostrils before she had a chance to realize that she had begun to breathe through her nose again.

The Prince felt that sudden emotional tug from her, the beginning of the bond, and the need inside of him grew at that realization. His lips fell to meet hers suddenly, and his arms found their way around the small of her back, pulling her against him as he did so.

Bulma seemed to fall under this very same spell, her own arms lifting, each hand planting themselves on either side of his chest, digits curling somewhat into the material of his armor.

Only minutes had passed, and sometime between the time his lips touched hers and then, she had been pressed against the wall, and Vegeta's mouth had fallen to her neck. He then stopped suddenly, and lifted his head, speaking through his intoxication.. "This is your choice, Onna, but if this is what you choose, then there can be no others. Just you and me. The bond never breaks, not even after death."

By that time Bulma had wrapped her legs around his waist, and could quite clearly feel his intention through the layers of clothing they both were wearing. Her head was leaned back, exposing her neck that Vegeta had been enjoying so much of. Never in her life had such a need taken her.. She'd always told herself that she would wait until marriage, but it was now that it struck her.. Marriage was something humans did, and she was not human. The bond had already begun to form, and her mind and body were both joyous in it's creation. She did not want it to fade with rejection.

Bulma didn't speak, she instead just entwined her fingers in the hair at the back of his head, and brought his lips back to hers with as much passion as she could muster... That was all the answer Vegeta needed.

* * *

It was safe to say neither of them emerged from the ship for the rest of the day, and the night that followed. They mated not once, but many times that night until both of them had been sated of their need, eventually finding themselves in Bulma's room, their limbs entwined in one another as they slept. Her tail had at some point coiled up and around as much of Vegeta's waist as it could manage, keeping the both of them close together.

Vegeta was the first to wake, immediately coming to the realization that he was not in his own room. The images of the previous night had invaded him as quickly as Bulma's scent filled his senses, and he turned his head to see her face, nestled affectionately into his shoulder. His brows furrowed as he observed her, looking so completely serene as she slumbered.

Vegeta could feel her presence much more than simply ki. He understood now his father's words. An unmated saiya-jin did not understand the void they had until it would be filled by a mate, and that void was the bond they formed. Her scent had changed since that night. It was by no means no longer attractive, in fact it seemed more so to him now, because it was engrained with his own scent. He was certain his scent now had hers entwined with it as well. It was a natural sign to his own kind that they were no longer capable of mating with anyone else but their chosen. Their scents would never be attractive to anyone else of the opposing gender, like his species' natural fail safe.

Vegeta buried his nose into her hair and inhaled slowly, rejoicing inwardly at the feeling of possession that took him. She was his now, and it was the same the other way around. No man could touch her, not even that scarred weakling. It was a satisfying thought.

The Prince could almost feel Bulma's consciousness stir as she began to wake. He could tell she seemed content as her mind grasped hold of reality and her eyes fluttered open, immediately making contact with his own obsidian hues. The way she smiled at him caused his spirit to soar, even if he didn't show it in his expression. She was smiling at him in a way he knew only he would ever have the privilege to see.

Bulma had been so pleasantly surprised to see Vegeta there when she awoke. She was so sure he would have slipped away long before she awoke to train. She allowed a hand to brush against his chest, before she leaned forward, burying her nose under his chin. She brushed her nose into his flesh back and forth a time or two in a show of instinctive affection, before breathing in his scent with what sounded like a very odd purr. That wasn't something she had done intentionally. The purr had come out on it's own, but Vegeta seemed flattered by it if anything. She was just enjoying his scent, which seemed almost stronger than the night before. It smelled of comfort, if that made any sense.

Vegeta had been considering getting up to train before she woke, but he had overslept after such a long eventful night.. And now he didn't even consider it. He was by no means an affectionate man, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to allow her to shower him with it. It was a female's way of showing a form of worship, and the more she taunted him with affection and that ever flattering purr, the more his urge grew.

Vegeta spun them around until she was pressed against the bed below him, and he let out a growl, the smirk on his face very clearly explaining his intentions. She didn't seem to be objecting at all, and hell, it never hurt to indulge a little in your mate in the mornings, now did it? Especially after such a long journey to finally win her over.

* * *

Author's note: Yaaay, More fun on the way, too!


	15. Chapter 15

All right, well I apologize for this taking longer than expected. I ended up catching some really nasty sinus infection and spent a good part of a week sleeping. Well, almost constantly sleeping. I really was too drugged up to write coherently. Even now I'm still recovering. I miss being able to smell and taste food. Stupid stuffed up nose!

I suppose it did give me time to formulate more ideas, and take a peek at some newer fics that I've been enjoying, but mostly I've just been concentrating on starting college in the fall, and signing up for it. 27 years old and I'm only just now starting college. Sad, huh?

Well anyway, we've hit a big crossroads in the story, at least in my opinion, and I hope you guys are still hanging in there.

* * *

Chapter Fifteen

* * *

Vegeta had not given Bulma much time that morning. _Get ready to leave and meet me upstairs in twenty minutes _ His words echoed in her head as she rummaged through various drawers, until finally locating the small container that held the capsules she intended to bring. "That jerk! Who does he think he is anyway?" She spouted to herself as she stuffed a small emergency tool kit into one of the pockets of her cargo shorts.

She had been instructed to wear something that didn't make her look so much like a target, and she understood the logic behind it quite well. If the aliens she had met on Namek were any clue as to what kind of etiquette was proper in the universe, she sure as hell didn't want someone gawking at her, or otherwise thinking she was incapable of handling herself, and taking advantage of her in any way.

In the end, the cargo shirt/pants combination that Bulma had originally wore when they first left earth was the most viable option. It gave her a much more militaristic look, even if it wasn't the armor that Vegeta had been so fond of wearing. Saiya-jin or not, she could not picture herself wearing that much spandex, with only a breastplate to offset such a bland choice in attire. She threw her long, aqua hair into a tightly-wound bun, with only a few strands hanging down just past her neck, and patted her various pockets to reassure herself that she hadn't forgotten anything.

Once she was sure everything in order, Bulma headed upstairs to find a very impatient looking prince, who glared at the exit to the ship as if his very will would open the door alone. She stopped about five feet from him, canting her head to the side curiously as he stared. "I thought you said we couldn't leave the ship alone?"

Vegeta had honestly been so lost in thought that he had hardly noticed the woman's presence. It was her voice that broke him out of his reverie, and it took him a moment to process her inquiry. "Don't be foolish. That's what I went to take care of yesterday. I had to release my funds from the galactic bank and acquire the hangar permit." He paused, taking a moment to observe her attire. He would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy seeing her dressed in such an intimidating manner. It was so different than her normal choice of earth clothing, which normally left very little to the imagination. Not that he minded, but these clothes made her look almost imposing, if it wasn't for that tail of hers that swayed around like a happy cat.

He grunted loudly in discontent, and reached out for Bulma's tail, roughly tugging it around her waist, speaking before she had a chance to argue. "This is for your own good, Onna. If you have that thing swaying around you're going to attract attention. The galaxy knows only juvenile Saiya-jins, or third-class weaklings leave their tail in such a compromising position."

Bulma nearly yowled in defiance when he so harshly grabbed her appendage, but did little more than scowl at him as he barked his explanation. She was no third-class ANYTHING. Bulma swatted his hands away, and wrapped the rest of her tail around her waist with a huff, glaring daggers at him all the while. Mated or not, she wasn't about to let him manhandle her like some possession! "Next time you could just ask, and maybe give an explanation instead of manhandling me! Hmph!"

"Where are we going, anyway?" Bulma inquired, watching the Prince enter the open code on the panel next to the door. She followed him as he exited, and nearly fell forward into him when he stopped halfway down the ramp without so much as a notice. It was her own fault for being so wrapped up in observing her surroundings the second she emerged, so she didn't bother scolding him over it.

He hesitated a moment, before speaking.. "There are some necessary things that I must obtain.. " He turned to face her, stepping towards her a moment as if to press the importance of what he was going to say upon her. "Do not give the impression that you are intimidated or unaware to anyone. Not even any of the workers here. Look down upon everyone as if you are better than them. That shouldn't be too hard for you." He looked away towards the various workers that busied themselves about the hangar. "You are better than them, understand? Even if you don't think so. My mate is below no one." He said that last part quietly, leaning close enough to brush his lips against her ear as he spoke the last bit of it.

The statement took Bulma by surprise, but she still managed to sneak in a bit of a retort. "Not even you?" She inquired quietly enough that it had almost been a whisper.. Vegeta simple let a chuckle rumble up from his chest, shaking his shoulders up and down once or twice, before ever so gently nipping at her earlobe with his sharp canines. "Not even me."

Bulma's features lit up a bright pink at what she had taken as probably the greatest of all flattery, even if it was probably his intention to manipulate her into doing as he asked. It sure as hell was working. She shifted her weight somewhat, and folded her arms over her chest, inclining her head in a very familiar, arrogant manner, as if Vegeta had rubbed a bit of his personality off on her with such a small gesture. To be honest, it was just a matter of inflating Bulma's ego, and that really did not take much.

Much to Bulma's surprise, the way they conducted themselves actually drew a negative response from the people they walked by. They seemed downright frightened, almost terrified, though she had the assumption that most of the fear came from the sight of Vegeta. After all, he was the one familiar to the place. For all she knew, she could just be seen as some random subordinate.

Of course, this didn't stop her from maintaining her composure. She did her damnedest to look altogether disinterested in anything they passed, allowing a mere shift of her gaze to take in her surroundings instead of her normal impulse to gawk at anything and everything new she passed. She didn't bother making eye contact with any of the locals, mostly because the majority of them stared at the ground as they passed. It was almost empowering to see strange creatures of all kinds fearing someone as small as she.

They exited the warehouse and into what seemed to be a wide walkway that stretched far down a 'street', alongside tall buildings. Vegeta walked briskly, with Bulma keeping at his heels constantly, not bothering to talk as they traveled. She very much doubted that he would be altogether that talkative in public. Hell, she was lucky enough to get that brief public display of affection from him, and that was more for the purpose of keeping her quiet and obedient.

Vegeta finally turned a corner and came upon what seemed to be an airborne parking lot, filled with various air vehicles of every shape and size. He stopped at a larger vehicle, which seemed about the size of a modern hummer, except a lot less square, and a lot more pleasing to the eye. It was a dark blue, about the same shade as the outfit he was so fond of, and had a small red crest on the entry door.

From what Bulma could see, Flying of your own accord in a place like this was not only dangerous, but apparently considered awfully rude, and she sure as hell hadn't spotted anyone doing so since they arrived. Heck, even Vegeta seemed keen on using a vehicle when he could very easily carry her about the planet without so much as a second thought.

Vegeta quietly entered in a security code on a small remote he had removed from his pocket, and the door of the craft slid open. Not being the most gentlemanly of people, he slid himself in first, and glanced over at Bulma with an expectant look, not even bothering to ask, or even command her to follow. If she couldn't figure out that he expected her to join him, he obviously had mated with the wrong woman.

Bulma huffed at his audacity, but found herself climbing in the vehicle anyway, settling down on the seat beside her Prince, and immediately reclining into a position that suited her. "Seems you used to come here a lot before.. Well before you came to Earth.." She had said that last part rather hesitantly, and got the rather profane feeling that he had been made uncomfortable by it.. For whatever reason, he didn't seem to react at all.. Perhaps it was just her being overly paranoid.

"Hn.." Vegeta grunted, starting up the vehicle, and expertly entering the fast-moving traffic. They flew for a good few minutes at a dizzying pace before he spoke.. "All my funds of my personal account are kept here at the galactic bank, which deals business with almost all planets in the universe. All my family's money- My people's money, is here still."

Bulma tilted her head curiously, bringing a finger to her lips in thought.. "So that means not even Frieza could obtain other people's wealth as he absorbed their planets, huh?" She pondered further.. "So I suppose money is kept track of by some digital means? Like how we- I mean humans use credit cards and such on earth..?" She had to think hard about what she was saying. She had almost referred to herself as human.. An earthling.. Was she really an Earthling? She certainly hadn't been born on Earth, but then again either had Goku, and he considered himself one.

The Prince nodded, before continuing. "Very keen, however we do not have use for objects such as the Earths' plastic cards. The information of our accounts are kept tied to our genetic code." He corrected her, not once looking away from the path he was taking the vehicle in. "You can tie multiple beings to one account.. As many as you like. There's no safer means of keeping your funds in order than this."

Bulma brought a finger to her lips as she absorbed the information. "Well, that certainly does seem to solve problems related to fraud, but what about someone like Ginyu? Couldn't he take control of someone and take their money that way?" She was always full of questions.

Vegeta didn't seem surprised by the question, and obliged without argument. "When Ginyu takes someone's body, he changes their genetic code while he's inhabiting it. The technology the bank created can see past parasitic organisms, as well as a means to prevent someone from simply flaying a victim and using for example a spare limb to access the account. Dead flesh will not produce enough of a heat signature to trigger the access."

She cooed at the information and smiled brightly. "Well then you're absolutely right, there is no safer way.. So that probably explains why Frieza was so keen on purging and selling planets.. It's not like he could access their galactic accounts. Would kind of be a worthless endeavor. Can't even take the money of a dead man."

The corner of Vegeta's mouth curved upwards at her conclusion. She really was a lot smarter than anyone gave her credit for, and it was one of the many reasons he felt a swell of pride instead of shame when she had accepted him as a mate. Not so many saiya-jins were technologically inclined, and she would have been a fantastic asset on their planet, if was still in existence. "You catch on quick."

Bulma paused, and the direction of the conversation took a quick turn.. "So I'm assuming you need me for something or other today, else I suspect I'd be on the ship still.. What is it you're looking to find?" She leaned towards him slightly, a brow rising in her familiar curious manner.

"The craft you created is sufficient, but there are no viable energy sources that are compatible with the fuel system you have on it. I suspect we'll need a new reactor of some sort, and a new fuel system. I will take you to where you can find the necessary components to create such a thing. That way, we have no need to return to that mudball if you do not wish to." He spoke so bluntly it was almost painful. At least he hadn't taken a stab at her technology. He very well could have.

Bulma looked away quickly at that last statement and let in a sharp breath. She honestly hadn't thought about it. Did she want to go back? After all that had happened, all the lies and all the pain, was it really a smart idea to return there? This wasn't something she could decide right now. He was right. If she decided not to go back to Earth, she would need a different reactor and fuel system to avoid having to return for fuel and supplies. She would need a new system installed to survive, and figure out how to work it into the current power system so that it was compatible. At the very least it was going to be an entertaining project.

* * *

The supply depot they arrived in was absolutely massive. There were warehouses with multiple floors filled with colossal parts, reactors, materials, tools, and anything that they could possibly ever need. Once inside, Bulma felt like a kid in a candy store, and did her best to hide her excitement, though the look in her eyes gave her away at least a little bit.

Bulma looked at damn near everything in the complex that she could, obtaining information about any and every type of reactor and fuel system there was, whether it be by asking questions or the paperwork that was included in the floor models. She was right at home and it was almost frightening how quickly she caught onto all this new technology. She had obtained a small writing pad and a pen, which had been kept in one of the pockets on her outfit, and began sketching ideas, writing down various equations, or even just jotting down notes.

Vegeta was ever quiet and patient, which wasn't like him at all. He followed behind her, answering questions the best he could when asked, and observing her as she worked. She really was something, and even he was impressed at her intellect. He had been convinced that she was going to have a hard time grasping all of this advanced technology, but she seemed to be catching on as if it had always been a part of her life. That was a lesson he wouldn't soon forget; never underestimate his mate's intelligence.

Much of the day passed in that warehouse, and she was still going. Vegeta had regretted not eating breakfast, his stomach tightening at the thought of how long it had been without eating. Surely she must feel the hunger as well?

After what seemed like ages, she finally presented Vegeta with a very well-written list of supplies, a proud smirk gracing her flawless features. "These should work, I'm assuming there's a way to get them all delivered to the hangar?" She asked, placing one hand on her hip as she did so.

Vegeta took the paper and scanned what she had written down.. "Yes, they will have it delivered, but this reactor.. It's an inferior model." He looked at her quizzically. Perhaps he had thought too highly of her?

Bulma just rolled those blue eyes, and shook her head. "I'm well aware of that, Vegeta, but we're not traveling in a large ship. Aside from that, this has a renewable power source, and I think I can rig it to safely put out more energy than it normally gives.. We'll be in great shape. Have some faith in me. Besides, this one is more compatible with the gravity system I have in place. That means I can potentially increase the max gravity capacity of the ship. Convinced yet?" She was altogether too cocky, but with good reason.

Vegeta lifted a raven brow in disbelief, before turning his head away. "I suppose that is...Sufficient.." He tried his best to look indifferent, but Bulma could almost feel his pride welling off of him from her knowledge. The warehouse owner was flabbergasted by Bulma's proclamation. Most creatures didn't see beyond what was currently known in technology, as if what existed was all that could be. It was one of the reasons Bulma was so brilliant, she thought outside the box.

Bulma seemed altogether too interested in the transaction process. Vegeta presented the list to the keeper of the warehouse, and he brought out a strange device. The strange warehouse keeper held out the device, and Vegeta tugged one of his gloves off, before presenting his bare hand to the device.. A few lights and sensors scanned and brushed his bare skin, before a few lights blinked, and text began to scroll on the small screen of the device. Just like that, the transaction was finished, and paid for.

The warehouse keeper smiled at the screen, then spoke. "Every'tin is all set." He spoke in a thick accent, and his hands fidgeted with the device as he spoke. "Will have delivery tonight, Prin' Vegeta. We 'preciate yer busness." He paused, and looked towards the woman. "Yer mechanic gon' check when it comes?"

Bulma's features twisted in anger at the accusation, hands curling into irritable fists. Vegeta seemed to catch on immediately that the comment had been insulting, and he lifted his now re-gloved hand in response. "You will address my mate properly, peasant, or I'll make sure you regret it." He threatened loudly.

The warehouse keeper fell backwards, before climbing up to his knees, and bowing apologetically to Bulma. "Mikra's so sorry, 'rincess. D-d-didn't mean nothin' by it!" He squeaked out, his entire body trembling at her feet.

She was angry before, now she was just uncomfortable. Princess? She turned her gaze to Vegeta, who gave her a rather hard expression. She supposed being mated to him did give her a title, but it wasn't as if Vegeta-sei still existed. Still, the title was important to him, she figured.

After a few moments of discomfort, she stepped back once, and huffed, looking away. "Fine." She said mostly because she was at a lack for words.. Her attention turned to Vegeta, and she reached out to touch his shoulder. "Can we go now? It's well past time to eat." She admitted, withdrawing her hand as quickly as it was placed. All she got was a nod in response, and the two of them left, not even looking back at the groveling keeper who was still recovering from what he believed was a near-death experience.

* * *

Surprisingly, Vegeta did not take them back to the ship. Instead, he brought her to a rather expensive looking restaurant. Needless to say, she felt rather under dressed for a place that in her opinion looked as if you needed something grand on in order to get in. The building was large and decorated, and there was a rather oddly colored alien in an odd looking, but altogether fancy suit of some sort near the entrance.

"Uh Vegeta, I don't think I'm really-" She was cut off before she even got a chance to finish.

"You're my mate, Onna. You could come here in a trash bag and you would be allowed in. Besides, it's traditional for Saiya-jins to wear something of military style, even if it's not armor." He waited for her to leave the vehicle, before taking her by the elbow, and leading her to the host.

The host fidgeted nervously at the sight of the two saiya-jins, and bowed deeply to them, before motioning for them to follow without so much as a word. As they walked, many of the guests, both men and women alike, stared in disbelief at the pair. Most of them whispered to one another, and many men took a moment to admire Bulma, much to Vegeta's dismay.

Thankfully, the two of them were brought to a rather private looking booth in the rear, and the two of them sat quietly. There was no menu presented to them only a bottle of what could be discerned as some sort of wine, and two glasses, each of which were filled before the nervous host scrambled away.

"Everyone's so nervous." She admitted, not really noticing the wanting eyes of many males.

"Saiya-jins are the most feared race in the galaxy, especially now that Frieza is dead. Even if we are few, we are still widely known.." He grunted, inching himself closer, and wishing so badly he had his tail. It was hard to express the claim a male saiya-jin had on a female to other races without it. Still, he did the best he could, leaning over and brushing his teeth against her neck, letting out a low growl as he did so.. It did seem to deter a lot of gazes, at least.

"Nnn! Vegeta, we're in public!" She squealed quietly, her features brightening into a pink shade.. Still, she didn't retaliate. Her tail unraveled, and coiled itself around his thigh, giving an encouraging squeeze. "You're happy." She admitted, looking at him curiously. "I can tell, but I don't understand how."

A smirk spread across his features as he inhaled the scent of her neck. "It's the bond, Onna. Saiya-jin mates develop a deep bond, makes one another incredibly aware of each others' emotions. I cannot hide how I feel from you, and only you." He spoke so quietly, before brushing his canines against her neck, daring to break the skin. He growled when he heard her squeak again, and reached down to gently brush his fingers along her tail. It was so very soft, not unlike his own when he had it.

Bulma's eyes shut, and she tilted her head to give Vegeta better access to the flesh of her neck as they waited their meal, not really caring if anyone was watching at this point. In fact, no one was. Vegeta had done this to stake his claim in her to everyone present, and he had more than proven his point. No one would touch his mate but him. After a while, Bulma began to catch onto this, and blushed furiously. "You're so possessive. Not that I mind. I couldn't imagine anyone else anymore." And she figured that had to do with this bond, but it didn't mean she was upset about it. She always figured she'd find one person to be with forever.

Honestly, Vegeta had always been pretty possessive, but that was in his nature.. This was to an entirely new degree. It was the first time in his life that he had been driven to show his appreciation and affection for anything or anyone in public, and he was doing it all as a means to keep anyone else from taking what was his. He let a low growl escape from within his chest, before nipping gently at the flesh of her neck, drawing a bit of blood as he did so. He ran his tongue along the mark, taking in the few small drops of blood, before grunting in a low voice.. "I don't want their eyes on you.." He admitted, likely a little too wrapped up in the moment to realize he was likely taking things a bit too far for public.

Bulma let out a small whimper at the breaking of her skin, and let out a shuttering breath, before finally reaching over to touch his cheek. "Alright tough guy, that's enough for now. Save it for the bedroom." She spouted teasingly, patting Vegeta's shoulder encouragingly as he growled in frustration. "We're in public. I'm sure there's some standards of decency even here." She reasoned, her gaze shifting to look upon a parade of waiters carting out food.

To compete with a saiya-jin appetite, the restaurant cooks simply cooked everything on the menu, hence the lack of menus presented, and it was all brought out on carts, before plate after plate was set down on the table in front of the two.

While Vegeta wasted no time in beginning to consume his meal, figuring it was better to avert his attention away from his mate to keep the decency at a reasonable level, Bulma examined each odd concoction. She sniffed everything before tasting it, picking and choosing what to eat based on how it tasted, before consuming it. She obviously had her preferences, and seemed to enjoy the meats a bit more than the strange vegetables. Eventually, she warmed up to her meal and had begun to eat at a faster pace, though still considerably slower than Vegeta's.

They had both been near starving, at least for their races' standards. It had been a poor choice to not eat breakfast, and Vegeta had not expected Bulma to spend the entire day in the warehouse. He should have figured it would take her a long while to finish, but it was well past dinnertime, and from the rate she was eating, she had felt just as malnourished as he. He stopped eating for a moment to frown at her in concern. She certainly seemed to need the nutrients, especially after she had been sick... But no, she was different.. Something had changed in her, and he had begun to quickly ascertain what it was.

"Mmh?" She inquired, lifting her head in curiosity at his sudden pause in his meal. "Something wrong?"

Vegeta did little more than grunt in response, before returning to his food.. The rest of the meal had been spent in silence, mostly because of the way they ate, but even their flight back to the hangar seemed eerily quiet. Occasionally Bulma would say a thing or two, mostly about the upgrades to the ship, but nothing that carried on more than a few comments.

* * *

It wasn't until they had retreated into the ship, and the door had shut that Vegeta had let out what had been pent up for quite some time. He immediately grabbed Bulma's by the waist from behind, and buried his face in the nape of her neck, growling rather intentionally at her. She let out a very surprised whimper, her tail unraveling from her waist and snaking its' way around his leg.

He grunted loudly, and gathered her up into his arms, very swiftly carrying her off to the bedroom.. The inclination that any male had laid their eyes upon her had damn near possessed him. He had recalled his father being quite jealous of anyone that laid their eyes upon the queen in any form of visual appreciation, and up until this point he hadn't understood completely. Was the bond not enough? Apparently not.

* * *

Passion. That's what it was, not just bonding, but passion, and that's what they shared, along with so many other things.. Until the late hours of the night. Once again, it was Vegeta awakening first, sometime in the mid to late morning, finding his mate's head rested contentedly on his chest, his fingers entwined in her hair. He sought out her energy, was she even close to waking? It seemed so.. But what could he tell her? COULD he tell her?

Bulma shifted in the first stages of waking, rubbing her eyes with one coiled up hand, before large azure eyes fluttered open, gazing up at Vegeta.. She could tell he seemed uncomfortable with something.. Like he was apprehensive.. After all they had done, how could he be? "Vegeta? What is it? You said yourself, you can't hide how you feel from me.."

He shut his eyes a moment, taking in a deep breath as he did so. "Onna. I am going to tell you something important, and you cannot scream. You cannot get angry, and you must think of this logically." He honestly didn't know how she would react.

Bulma sat up, and rubbed the back of her neck, yawning lazily as she did so.. Man, she had been so stiff the past couple mornings. She really wasn't enjoying getting out of bed. "Hmm? Well okay, sure, I'll do my best, just out with it already!" She said tiredly.

"You are with child."

* * *

AN: Oh snap. Well, we'll just have to wait and see how she'll take this news next time. Cause I'm evil.


	16. Chapter 16

I've sufficiently left you all on a semi-cliffhanger at the end of the last chapter, and it left me somewhat satisfied. There will be better cliffhangers coming up, I assure you. Why? Because I'm completely evil and I love making people squirm a little.

Anyway, I'm really enjoying writing out their time in space, though I do kind of wish I had spent more time describing the alien lifeforms. I suppose I'll touch on that in their further travels.

Don't be afraid to let me know what you think!

* * *

Chapter Sixteen

* * *

Bulma could not keep her left eye from twitching. No, really, it was doing it on it's own, reflecting the rather shocked, and irritable state she had been put in by some rather unexpected news. As if in a moment of modesty, she pulled the sheets up and around her as she sat on the edge of the bed, looking over her shoulder at the bearer of said news.

"Wait, what? How? Well wait, I know HOW, but.. How can you tell?" Bulma tripped over her words, eyes wide as saucers as she stared at the ever indifferent Vegeta who lounged on the other side of the bed.

"I can sense the ki growing inside of you. Simple as that. I discovered it last night at dinner." Vegeta shrugged, trying his best to seem as if he really didn't care. He knew better though, he was rather pleased with this development, even if it was at an inopportune time for the both of them. "I'll admit I didn't expect it to happen so quickly. You must be very fertile." Always the blunt one, aren't we, Vegeta?

Bulma gasped at his comment, and blushed furiously. "I- well... Okay, I don't really know what to say to that.." Did she really want a child? Vegeta seemed pleased enough by it, but was she really ready? Especially when she didn't even know where she would go. Surely they couldn't raise a child in the darkness of space, wandering around like vagabonds?

She took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly, her hands grasping the sheets that covered her as if it were the only thing keeping her sane. Without warning, muscled arms made their way around her waist, and they tugged at her torso, pulling her into the waiting body of her princely mate, who rumbled what sounded to be a mix between a growl and a purr.

"There is nothing more precious between mates than the ability to produce life, Onna." Vegeta spoke, his canines brushing against her earlobe in a rather primal manner. "You should not feel troubled by it. You will not be alone."

Somehow the idea that Saiya-jin males were supportive of the females during pregnancy and raising children didn't seem likely, but Vegeta had in not so many words, tossed those concerns out the window. Bulma's lips curled into a contented smile, her head leaning back against Vegeta's shoulder.. "So, this question may seem odd but I doubt the pregnancy is the same as humans.. How long should I expect to be carrying the child before it's born?" It was a completely valid question.

Vegeta lifted a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. His own knowledge of the process was hazy at best, since he was a child when he learned all of this, but he knew better than she. "From what I recall, it is around the period of six earth months. Give or take a few weeks." He said between his thoughts, attempting to ascertain the vague memories of his mother when she was pregnant with his weakling brother.

"Six months? Not bad. It's kind of like I get a thirty percent discount." Bulma commented bemusedly. "Humans carry their children for nine months, and that's not a pretty process from what I've seen. Somehow I have a feeling the pregnancy will not be nearly as pleasant as a human's, though. I can't imagine how it's gonna feel when it starts kicking and such."

Vegeta chuckled mildly at her musings, and shook his head. "Human pregnancy cannot possibly compare. From what I've seen, it is a trying experience, but both mother and child come out much stronger from the experience. Saiya-jin females can be quite formidable in battle after they've had a child."

Bulma chuckled in return, groaning at the idea of what was to come. It sounded painful. "In other words, this child is going to beat the living hell out of me while he's in the womb. I hope you like me when I'm irritable." She said finally, before dragging herself up and out of bed. "Well, I better get ready for the ship upgrades."

Vegeta immediately stood, and was about to protest, when Bulma cut in.. "Oh don't give me that I'm pregnant and shouldn't be doing work, Vegeta. It's what, two days into term? I think a little physical labor isn't going to kill me. Talk to me when I start to show, and then I'll listen to that argument." With that, she disappeared into the bathroom to shower, emerging only after she had showered and changed into an outfit not unlike the one she wore the day before, except this time complete with an odd looking tool belt. She seemed to pull off the mechanic look quite well.

* * *

While Vegeta spent the day training as best he could without the use of increased gravity, Bulma had been hard at work doing the upgrades. She seemed more than pleased with herself when she found she was more than capable of carrying things much larger than she ever imagined she could with little difficulty. It was little things like that which made her warm up to the side of herself she had only just begun to get to know.

Occasionally metal would clang or bang, and Vegeta would pop his head out to observe Bulma, being too much of a worry wart for his own good, but he tried his best not to make himself known whenever he did so. He began to quickly understand his father's behavior when his mother was with child with his brother.

King Vegeta had always been rather strict and stoic, but when his mate was carrying Tarble, he was a complete mess outside of royal court. He constantly doted on his mate, worried about her constantly, and quite literally lost it whenever the child would kick or shift in the womb, making Vegeta's mother wince, or just outright pass out. Hell, Tarble was incredibly weak in saiya-jin standards, Vegeta could only imagine what kind of pain he put his mother through when HE was in the womb.

That just made his concern deepen. Surely he and Bulma would produce a very strong offspring, as was customary. He was to be a super saiyan, and Bulma was quite formidable in his races' standards. The pain she went through as a child had made her a lot stronger than she realized. She just hadn't figured out how to regulate her ki and use it properly, which was why the gravity had such an effect on her. If she learned proper ki usage she would be quite capable of defending herself, especially after she gave birth to the child. She already made most of her human friends look rather pathetic in strength, if only she knew how to harness it properly.

BANG!

Vegeta nearly shot up from the ground at the loud sound, and immediately shot out of the ship, moving to investigate what the source of the sound was from. What he saw was half amusing, and half impressive.

Bulma stood underneath the ship, with the entire new generator in her arms, the old one sitting on the ground in a smoking heap. "Whooo! That was annoying to disconnect the couplings off!" She said mostly to herself, not yet noticing her mate as he gawked nearby. The generator couldn't have been light, but she seemed quite content to test the waters of her strength. She even seemed to be subconsciously using a bit of her ki to protect her skin from being damaged by all the metal.

"Why did you not ask for assistance? You could have hurt yourself!" Vegeta finally spouted, his features red from irritation. He had worked his worry wart up a bit too much for his own good.

Bulma shook her head, and unceremoniously shoved the new reactor into the spot where the old one had been, before climbing into the inner workings of the ship, until nothing but her legs were hanging out. It was only then that she shouted out her reply. "Honestly, Vegeta. What has gotten into you? You know as well as I that I am not as fragile as you seem to assume I am. If I thought I needed help I would have asked for it!"

Vegeta's head spun in irritation at her response, and he immediately flew down to the ground level, before climbing over the rubble of the old reactor to look up into the opening where Bulma was squeezed into. She was covered in grease, and there were tools everywhere inside, but there seemed to be an ample amount of space for her. She was holding the reactor up with her feet, while her hands worked their magic on the couplings, adjusting them, shoving parts into them, pulling out wires to replace with others, all for the sake of upgrading the ship.

Bulma made it look so easy. She worked so feverishly, as if the entire blueprint was in her head, which wasn't far from the truth. She built the entire machine from scratch, and had a photographic memory to boot. She knew how power systems worked. "Look, I already adjusted and altered the reactor, it's just a matter of adjusting the ships systems to communicate with it, and then reprogramming the gravity system for the higher levels of gravity. The hard labor is already done. Don't think I haven't noticed you coming out here whenever I make any type of racket. I'm not helpless, please try not to worry yourself too much. It just makes you grumpier than you usually are, and I am not in the mood to put up with that when I'm doing you a favor as it is."

Her logic was flawless, and Vegeta was left baffled by it. He should have known better than to try and argue with her. Her hormones were already starting to go on the fritz with the life developing inside of her, and that seemed to make her tongue quite a bit sharper to boot. He did little more than growl in response, and bark up into the opening at her. "If you do harm to yourself in any way I am not going to take care of you!" He threatened, but it was more than likely a hollow threat. He was trying to convince himself of it more than Bulma.

"I didn't ask you for your help before, you asshole!" Bulma spat back with as much venom as she could muster.

It seemed she acted more like a saiya-jin would the more time went on. It was often he found bits of his own personality in her, like her refusal for help, her determination to achieve, and her inability to back down from a challenge, even if it was well beyond her means. But he tended to take things too far and ended up more often than not doing more harm than good to his body.. Still, it wasn't as if she seemed to be straining herself in any way. If anything she seemed quite proud of the fact that she was able to balance such a large, heavy object on little more than the tops of her feet.

He silently chided himself for his sudden burst of obsessive concern. It was so unlike him, and scarred his pride when he managed to think back on his foolish behavior. "Hurry up and finish the upgrade then! You're holding back my progress!" He spouted finally, not the least bit surprised when a tool came flying in his direction. He stepped away from it, but seemed at least a little surprised when it left a dent in the metallic floor, before the now mangled tool bounced away loudly. With that, he retreated back into the ship to resume his training, not bothering to emerge at any more loud sounds, despite the impulse he felt to do so.

It wasn't until dinnertime that Bulma finally made herself present inside the ship. She had removed the military style shirt and wrapped it around her waist, revealing the gray tank top she had been wearing underneath, which was stained with grease, along with her pants, which were tucked into combat style boots. It was definitely an odd look for her, but the way her tail swayed so contentedly behind her gave evidence that she felt quite at home.

Vegeta had to admit that the more he saw her looking quite so dirty and worked, the more he found it hard to be angry with her. Despite the grease that covered her and the sweat that beaded on her forehead, he found himself standing before her, and leaning his head into her neck to inhale her scent. The sweat just amplified her already appealing scent. "I take back what I said. You need to work and train more.." He said in a low voice that betrayed exactly what was on his mind right now.

Bulma rolled her eyes at Vegeta's obvious intentions, and lifted a hand to his chin, lifting his face from her neck before he got too carried away. "All right, Vegeta. Save it for later. I'm probably hungrier than I have ever felt in my entire life." It was hard to stay mad at him when he flattered her like that.

So, without any more opportunity for distractions, she gave Vegeta's shoulder a gentle pat, before heading downstairs to wash her hands ant eat the massive dinner the servo-bots had prepared for them.

* * *

Much of the meal was spent in silence, which was the norm for the two of them, but something had been itching at the back of Bulma's mind. "Vegeta.." She said, lifting her head high enough to see over the pile of plates that separated them..

Vegeta gave a grunt in response, at least just to signify that he was paying attention.. She just figured she'll continue. "I understand why you were putting me through all that training before, but I get the feeling that there's something I'm missing.. Aside from technique.. I'm missing that too.. I understand your training is important but some... Instruction would be appreciated.. Unless of course you want me to start trying to remember what I've seen of Goku's technique.." Oh she knew just how to bait him.

Vegeta responded so fast it was almost funny. "No mate of mine will be mimicking anything that buffoon of a third-class saiya-jin does. I will instruct you." He paused, looking over the plates at Bulma.. "You need to learn to use your Ki, Onna. You have an impressive amount of it since you spent so much of your life in pain, but it's worthless if you can't use it." He was just being truthful. "I will give you direction. You would do well to observe me when I train." With that, the conversation ended. He had been manipulated in just the right way, and he knew it. She knew how to manipulate his pride, and he didn't know whether or not to be irritated with her or proud of her for it.

* * *

With the upgrades to the ship complete, they were able to depart from Zakora-sei without any delay. She hadn't told him until the morning that the upgrades were finished, but he found it hard to be angry with her when she had gotten up early to prepare breakfast herself. Anything not made by those robots was always so much more appealing.

The fact that she had gotten the upgrade so quickly had served a purpose. She wanted to train, she wanted to get stronger before the life growing inside of her became too much of a burden. She wanted to be prepared for what was going to beat her up from the inside out in a few months' time. For now, she would be more than capable of handling most of what Vegeta threw at her.

This time, it wasn't just him giving her one robot and a lot of gravity to fight against.. He had begun to instruct her on the ways of ki manipulation. He spent a lot of time explaining to her what ki was, even though she already had a vague knowledge of it. It was still good to make her aware of what it was as it pertained to her body and her power, and how to work it to her advantage.

Days, even weeks went by wandering the darkness of space, occasionally landing in a port for supplies, but mostly training. As the weeks turned into months, two months in fact, she had begun to show very clear signs of her pregnancy. The bulge in her stomach had begun to form, and she had to bring whatever rigors of her training to a halt, at least when it concerned gravity. Bulma hadn't complained when Vegeta suggested she keep her gravity bracelet turned to ten times earths' gravity, to make up for what the gravity was on their home planet. Even if it didn't exist anymore, the gravity allowed for much stronger offspring.

Still, even with Bulma's condition turning into one that didn't exactly permit the rigors of high-gravity training, she had continued to work on her technique, studying Vegeta whenever he trained, taking notes whenever she thought it was necessary, and applying it to what she considered over glorified katas.

Bulma had concentrated much of her attentions on her ki. She had only slightly begun to grasp the concept of sensing ki, but she had gotten the hang of raising and suppressing her ki. That was opening up the door of using her ki in different ways.. For example, she found very quickly that her ki alone proved to be a very effective shield against destructive forces, especially ki-produced blasts. She could concentrate her ki in certain parts of her body to protect them better, but with great difficulty. It took a lot of her concentration to do so, but she figured it would come to her in due time.

Vegeta would never admit how pleased he had been with her progress, as well as her motivation. He hadn't felt much need to goad her on, but she seemed to make a more than acceptable amount of progress given her condition. After giving her the basics she had caught onto the rest on her own. It seemed that the saiya-jin blood in her just needed a kick-start. She would definitely have made a great queen, and surely the heir she carried was going to be as powerful as his sire, if not more so.

This particular day, Vegeta had directed the ship to land on what seemed to be a completely deserted planet. There wasn't anything particularly special about it. There were no cities, but there was plenty of resources. Plant life, wildlife, and large bodies of water. It wasn't too unlike Earth, except void of intelligent life.

It wasn't until the ship had touched down, and the two of them exited the craft that Bulma began to question where they were, and why.. "So uh, mind telling me why you brought me to some uninhabited planet, Vegeta?" She inquired with an irritated tone. There was no stopping her mood swings lately. She ate quite a bit more, and she was downright painful to be around, yet Vegeta seemed to persevere. She was sick often, which seemed to be one of the many similarities that Saiya-jins had in common with humans when it came to pregnancy.

Bulma was in no mood for his useless outings, and she tapped her foot impatiently, one hand planted on her hip as she observed the alien landscape, a few reptilian-like birds flying by in the distance and making an awful racket. "Ugh. Disgusting." She commented, not bothering to stray away from the ship.

"This planet was not uninhabited two years ago, but that's not why we're here.." He was going to leave the implications of his statement to smolder in her consciousness, he didn't want to beat around the subject, he just wanted to get to business. "You have learned most of the important points of using your ki.. But you need to know how to …. Travel on your own."

Bulma's expression immediately brightened, forgetting completely that he had taken her to a purged planet.. "You mean, you're going to teach me to fly?" She chirped, reaching out to take his arm and pull him to her.. She seemed rather surprised when she managed to actually tug him to her.. She hadn't quite gotten used to the idea that now that she had strength and the ability to empower herself with ki, Vegeta wasn't such an immovable object. He was still quite a bit stronger than her, but he was by no means too heavy for her to move anymore, and she certainly was not fragile as glass as she once thought she was. "But.. Why? I mean, it's a nice thing for you to do, but isn't your time better spent training?"

He felt her strong tug and grunted somewhat, but was somewhat flattered by her increased strength, simply giving her a rather content smirk. "Well, it's beneficial. If we're to travel, I will not be carrying you everywhere. To fly is in your blood, all saiya-jins can do so, so will our child, and so shall you." There were other reasons behind this, of course. While she was now a formidable force, he would rather die than see her have to face an opponent in battle aside from a spar, especially in her condition. If she could fly, she could avoid situations that would cause her bodily harm. He wasn't going to add that little tidbit in.

* * *

Three weeks were spent on that planet resting, repairing the ship of any small damages it had endured in space, but most of the time was Bulma's training. It wasn't enough for her to simply know how to fly. She needed to learn to endure and maintain high speed, long-distance flight, which meant a lot more ki training. It wouldn't do him any good if she could do little more than float around, after all.

He was damn well determined to get her to be as fast as he was in flight, and it was taking a bit longer than he expected. He couldn't push her too hard, and she had to take breaks whenever her pregnancy caused her to get queasy, overly tired, or if the life inside of her decided to voice it's hunger. It set her back quite a bit, but he could not fault her on it.

Bulma had been doing well, and truth to be told Vegeta really had to push himself hard to keep her from gaining ground on him. She had damn near caught him three times already today, and it wasn't even time for lunch.. Unfortunately, by the look of her, she was beginning to tire, and her hand occasionally moved to her somewhat bulging stomach with a groan and a wince.. So, he turned direction, landing back at the ship, with her fast at his heels.

"All right, Onna. That's enough. You've caught on enough. You will do no more training while you carry the child." He demanded, trying his best to look firm instead of concerned. Lately her girth had begun to grow a bit faster, and it was effecting her in more ways than he would have liked to see.

Bulma's tail hung between her legs like a sad puppy as she rubbed her swelling stomach with a grimace.. "Unh.. Let's just... Go eat lunch.." She didn't even have the energy to argue. She dragged herself inside the ship, and down into the kitchen area, Vegeta following close behind.

Bulma hadn't been cooking, and for good reason. What with her training and the life that taxed her, she just didn't have the motivation. While she knew it was important to stay somewhat active, she craved a few days of rest. Was she really hungry? She ate a plate or two, but by the third one she was poking at her food with her fork idly.

Vegeta could feel her inner quarrel, and looked up from his plate. "Eat, Onna. You are hungry." He demanded, and waited until she began to eat again, before he returned to his meal.. Something was troubling her aside from her pregnancy, and he could not pinpoint it. It caused him unrest.

"I feel like we aren't safe here. I know Frieza is dead and it's not likely anyone will be around here, I can understand why you brought us here, but I can't get over the feeling that this place just isn't safe." She admitted finally after eating a few more plates.

Vegeta scoffed at her concern, and shook his head. "Onna, did I not tell you there's nothing in this universe that can possibly pose a threat to me? You have such little-"

Bulma tried to reason.. "I know what you said, Vegeta. It's not something I can control. You're probably right, I'm just being paranoid. Maybe it's because I'm pregnant, but it doesn't change the fact I feel this way." Thankfully, Vegeta just grunted in response instead of pressing the matter any further. It wasn't like he could change her apprehensiveness. They'd be leaving the planet soon anyway, so it didn't matter.

* * *

The afternoon was spent inside the ship, with Vegeta returning to his high-gravity training regime, while Bulma napped away her exhaustion. Sometime before dinnertime she had emerged from downstairs to watch him train, remaining as far out of the way as possible. He really was something else to watch train. The way he pushed himself and brought harm to himself, only to rise up stronger each time was something short of amazing. She could only somewhat understand, being that she never sought out bodily harm as a means to become stronger.

The two of them coexisted like this in silence. She didn't bother pestering him on taking proper care of himself now that she was more familiar with the bodily limitations of a saiya-jin. Still, she couldn't help but dote on his injuries at night, and it brought her some relief when he acquiesced to her need to patch him up. It was one of few things she had to keep her sane as her body became too large for her to accomplish anything physical such as training or creating large machinery.

Vegeta wrapped up his pre-dinner training with the shutting down of the gravity reactor, before hesitantly approaching Bulma, who awaited with first aid supplies. He never thought the bandaging was necessary, but he wasn't so stupid as to not realize that letting her bandage him was more to help her than him. Since there was no one around to see his pride take the small hit, he settled down on the chair beside his mate, and grumbled to himself as she applied the medicines and gauze to whatever small superficial wounds he may have acquired.

Unfortunately, such serene moments weren't always meant to last. Within a minute of her bandaging, a small alert began to beep throughout the ship, and Vegeta raised a raven brow in question. This was definitely new. "What is going on, Onna?" He demanded.

Bulma tilted her head to the side curiously at the sound, dropping the gauze as she realized what it meant.. "It's the communication system, Vegeta. Someone is hailing us. Maybe you should-"

Vegeta was up before she could even finish what she was saying, and he was well on his way to the ladder that led up to the main control deck. He ascended the steps and climbed into the center seat in front of the console, before hitting the commands to accept the communication...

* * *

It seemed like an eternity that Bulma waited down below, fidgeting nervously with her gauze as she did so.. She wanted so badly to climb up there and see who was hailing them, but some nagging feeling kept her from it. Her child stirred somewhat in her, and she patted her stomach comfortingly. Even the child seemed unsettled by it.

The lower decks fell into silence as she waited, and Bulma wouldn't be able to say when she had fallen asleep. All she knew was that one second she was staring at the gauze in her hand, and the next she felt Vegeta's strong hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle shake.

"Onna. You need to wake up. Wake up, Onna." He repeated in an exasperated tone. When she came to, she immediately ascertained the severity of the situation. It was plastered all over Vegeta's face.. He looked stricken with concern, even if his expression didn't look at all different than it normally did. She could see it in his eyes.

"Nnnh.. Vegeta? What is it? Who was that who contacted us?" She spoke tiredly, trying her best to hide the fact that she had in fact caught onto the change in her mate's mood.

He tugged her to her feet in a rather rough manner, and threw her backpack at her. "Onna, you need to get away from here. Now." He spoke sternly.

Bulma tore her arm out of his hand and hissed her response.. "Bullshit, Vegeta. I'm not leaving to anywhere without you, and I'm definitely not going anywhere without you telling me what the hell is going on! One minute you're boasting how powerful you are and the next you're telling me to turn tail and run? What the hell is going on, Vegeta? Who was that?"

Vegeta turned his back to Bulma, his arms crossing over his chest. Sometime during her nap, he had changed into his armor, which never meant anything good. "I had forgotten about him.. I had forgotten about Cooler, and he's found me."


	17. Chapter 17

Hey there guys, I wanted to clear something up. In my universe, there is no way to tell simply by sensing ki whether the baby in Bulma's womb is male or female. I just didn't like that, kinda felt like it was cheating. They can wait and see for themselves!

I've been kind of gaining a lot of inspiration back, so I do hope this chapter is written with a bit more vigor and coherence than the last two.. I'm feeling much better, and I thank everyone who gave me well wishes. I can breathe again!

I have a lot of work next week, so I may not be putting out many chapters, so I am trying to put out some to get the story going a little more before my chapters slow down. Maybe I'm just trying to be evil and want to leave you on cliffhangers for longer periods of time!

* * *

Chapter Seventeen

* * *

Cooler, just the name sounded, well.. Just plain stupid. At least to Bulma. "Cooler? What the hell kind of a name is that?" She spouted, the irritation in her voice reflected by the scowl etched on her normally pleasant features. "Who is Cooler, and why has he got your panties in a bundle like this?" Okay, so she was worried, but her pregnancy had tossed out the voice of reason ages ago, and instead of wanting to flee from the threat that obviously had her mate so worked up, she wanted to punch it in it's hideous face, whatever it was.

"Foolish woman, Cooler is Frieza's older, more powerful sibling!" Vegeta snapped, in a failing attempt to get her to see the severity of the situation. It was at this time that he regretted all the hours, days, even weeks he spent trying to better his mate's abilities instead of his own. He could not possibly match Cooler's power.

_Stupid asshole, invading our space and making my pregnancy harder than it needs to be! _"It's like I'm a fucking lightning rod for drama or something!" Bulma spouted, throwing her arms into the air in an exasperated manner. "What the fuck does he want with you? It's not like YOU killed his brother, I mean honestly! Does no one in this fucking galaxy have a god-damned brain?" The child shifting and kicking in her womb, small as it was, was still causing her a decent amount of pain, and it didn't help her mood in the least.

"I don't know what the slimy bastard wants, but he's arguably worse than Frieza. He tends to not keep subordinates for very long. I'd wager to guess he's trying to... Obtain all of his brother's assets. I suppose that might in some twisted way include me." He paused, looking towards the control panel of the ship, pondering to himself whether or not it was wise to simply send her packing in the ship, and leave him behind. Would it be better that way? She likely wouldn't get far.

"Wait what?" Bulma inquired. "What do you mean he doesn't keep subordinates for long? Why would he want subordinates at all if all he does is do away with them?" Did she really want to know the answer?

"He gets bored easily." Vegeta stated as if it was of little consequence.

"Bored? BORED? So the life of anyone in the entire universe is measured in how strong you are, or how useful you are to those who are stronger. How disgusting!" She flailed her arms again, and stood from her seat, marching her way towards the door of the ship.

"Finally, you're catching on." Vegeta stated, stalking after her and quickly getting himself between his mate and the exit of the ship. "You are not going out there. You are not staying on this planet at all." He said in a low, stern tone, his raven eyes baring down into her azure ones with as much intensity as he could muster.

Unfortunately for Vegeta, Bulma was not having any of it. "So let me guess. You want me to fly off into space, leaving you behind to fight this... Madman? And I assume you probably don't plan to return either.. Well guess what? I'm not going anywhere. Don't think I cant figure out how to disable any sort of auto-program you set the navigation system to and get my ass right back here. I am staying here with you, and so help me if you try to force me to leave I will hunt you down and kick you in your tail stub until you cry for your mommy." She threatened in an equally low tone. She could be downright fierce when her hormones kicked in. "I am not leaving, and you are not abandoning me. You will _not_ insult me like this."

Vegeta was outright stricken speechless by her threat. This seemed to be a common occurrence of late, considering she tended to have the most frightening mood swings known to any race. If he were any sort of lesser creature he would be fearing for his very existence. This pregnancy had obviously caused her to become imbalanced, at least in human terms. If anything she was acting as any saiya-jin would when told to run from a fight. "I will not have you facing off with the likes of Cooler, Onna. It isn't likely I can defeat him, and in your condition you should not be fighting at all"

Bulma growled loudly, and bared her canines at him in a defiant snarl. "Did I say I was planning on fighting? No. I did not! Thank you, your majesty, for putting words in my mouth. I said I was not leaving, and I stand by that. If you insist that I do not engage in combat, fine. I can understand your concern, and I will remain here with the ship, but you will not, under any circumstances, try and force me to leave you behind." She demanded, pointing her index finger at Vegeta in a threatening manner. Her tail seemed altogether frazzled, whipping to and fro behind her to emphasize her point.

Vegeta turned his back to Bulma, and folded his arms over his chest, lifting one hand to pinch the bridge of his nose as he contemplated his options. This was once again the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object... There came a great stretch of silence as the two of them stood their ground, before Vegeta finally turned to face his mate, his expression displaying his look of discontent for the situation. "You will remain here with the ship, and keep your ki level as low as you possibly can. If something were to happen to me, your ki level would be of no consequence to Cooler, and he may just leave without bothering to look. As far as I know he has no knowledge that I am even traveling with anyone. I intend to keep it that way." He could not possibly press the importance of her suppressing her ki as much as he currently was. She could not be found. He could not risk her being harmed, losing their child. The very thought caused his entire being to burn from the inside out, and he resisted the urge to release his ki under the stress.

Bulma gave him one last snarl, before turning quickly on her heels, and heading to the lower decks of the ship. She was hungry still anyway.

Vegeta waited until he sensed Bulma's energy was down to a sufficiently low level, before heading out of the ship. He could hear Cooler's transport ship as it broke the atmosphere in the distance.. It was fortunate for him that the ship seemed to be landing far enough away from where his ship was, so he hardly had to worry about any battle he may or may not have finding their way to where his mate was holed up. Of course he would much rather her be far off in space by now, but he could not fault her for being angry at the idea of running away. Cowering in the ship was probably insult enough for her, and he could understand with every ounce of who and what he was her turmoil.

Taking one last look back at the ship, he took to the sky, leaving little more than a cloud of dust in his wake. As the ship shrunk in the distance, he idly wondered if he would ever see it, or his mate again.. Or for that matter, if he would ever even meet his heir if and when it was born. _This isn't time for thoughts like this. I am the Prince of all Saiya-jins! I will defeat this disgusting lizard and take my mate; my queen with me to our rightful place in the universe!_

Such confident thoughts he had, it was invigorating to him, more than enough to feel the ki flowing through him, and his blood boiling at the thought of the oncoming fight.

* * *

White and indigo scales covered the confident form of the newly appointed heir to the ice-jin empire as he emerged from the large, round-shaped ship only moments after it had touched down on the surface. The dust from it's landing still clouded the area as red eyes focused on the small device covering his left ear, and projecting an image on the small clear green screen in front of his left eye. There certainly did not seem to be any forms of life here that were formidable, except maybe the monkey prince himself.

_Newly appointed heir. Newly appointed. That pathetic whelp should not have had right to inherit the empire over me in the first place! And look what happened! Felled by a low-class ape! _The ice-jin lord scoffed to himself, not at all surprised at the short, but familiar silhouette of the Saiya-jin prince that emerged from the slowly clearing dust. He knew little of Vegeta, other than he was not one to back down from anything, or anyone. Even if his odds were so poor that there was no way he would come out breathing. It was for these reasons his little brother kept him in his employ, and it was the Prince of this dying race that had made the empire so wealthy.

"Well well, if it isn't the Prince himself. Last time I saw you, you were only a pup." Cooler poked fun.. "Of course it seems you have not grown much since then." He never was one for pleasant greetings, and he enjoyed more than anything direct hits at his subordinates' shortcomings. In this case, they were literal.

Vegeta's eye twitched only once at the comment about his height. There was no denying he had inherited his height, or lack there of, from his mother, and had been at the butt-end of more jokes than he'd like to admit, but he had long since learned to push the need to flay people for commenting on it to the deepest part of his soul. Some situations, such as the one he was currently in, did not condone that type of reaction. "Enough of your pleasantries, Cooler. What is it you want? You sure as hell came a long way just to disturb my training."

"Right to the point. I always thought my little brother exaggerated when he said you never beat around the bush." Cooler said calmly. A number of subordinates emerged from the ship behind him, some of them toting guns, and the others not. Obviously the ones with energy guns were of little threat to anyone, let alone Vegeta. If they had need for weapons, they were weak.

While most of the subordinates stayed put, a couple of the ones toting guns, and three of the fighter-looking underlings took off, but they didn't seem to be going in the direction of Vegeta's ship, so he made no indication that he cared. "You are no doubt aware that my.. Unscrupulous brother has been bested in battle, and is no longer in a condition to take charge of the empire. By this I mean he is dead. From what I hear, it was not your hands that ended his life.." Cooler teased in amusement. "That must have really stung, hmm? The whole empire knew how badly you wanted his blood on your hands. What a pity." He was obviously goading the prince on.

Vegeta seethed, gritting his teeth and baring his canines in defiance. His blood boiled and his ki wavered on the edge at the vile lizard's teasing. "You did not come all this way to rub that in my face, what do you want? Get to the point!" He demanded loudly.

Cooler laughed mockingly at the diminutive Saiya-jin prince, before finally reaching his point. "I've come to continue my brothers' endeavors. There are many planets that need your attention, and it would be in your best interest to come along without a fuss.." He reasoned, waving a hand in a nonchalant manner as he spoke.

* * *

As far as Bulma could tell, there had not yet been any confrontation. She used her limited ability to seek out her mate's signature, noting how it wavered much like it did when he was angry, but it didn't seem to be harnessed.

Her nose crinkled at the scent wafting off of her clothing. She had been training with Vegeta earlier, and although flying wasn't necessarily stressful, because of her growing... Condition... She had sweat, and wasn't content to sit in her stench. She kept in mind her need to suppress her ki as she climbed down into the lowest level of the ship and took a very short shower, before climbing into something more suitable for the rough environment she was in.

She had grown rather fond of her military-style fatigues of late. They certainly did provide protection from the elements when needed, but were more than loose enough to allow fluid movement without hindering her whenever she needed to work on the ship or even train. It was no armor, but it was comforting for her to wear, even if she had needed to cut a hole in it to allow space for her tail to poke through.

With her newly cleaned clothes on, she emerged from the lower levels and moved to the main entrance of the ship, immediately struck with the sensation that there was someone, or rather, more than one someone outside. He could hear the voices of several males conversing outside, and groaned with the feeling of dread.

"_It must be the monkey's."_

"_There's someone inside, just like lord Cooler said. The scouter is picking up a reading. It's not very powerful though."_

"_You think it's her?"_

"_Of course it is, you moron! It's fitting for a woman's signature."_

"_Well, maybe we can have a bit of fun first!"_

Oh, the feeling of dread grew. How on earth could these guys possibly have known about her? She had not done a thing to give her presence away. At the very least, the fact that she kept her ki down had lulled whatever aliens were outside into a false sense of security. Still, what should she do now?

Her first instinct seemed almost foreign to her. Six months ago if she was under this kind of threat she would have run and hid somewhere, cowering in a hole and hoping no one found her.. That instinct didn't seem right. It seemed like it had been forced on her by some outside force, and she shook the feeling away. Not once had Vegeta backed away from anything or anyone, and he had tried his damnedest to impress the importance of that attitude on her. The least she could do was oblige him in that sense.

It was too late for Vegeta's plan to hide her away, it seemed. This Cooler fellow was obviously one step ahead of them. So, she took in a deep breath, lifted her chin to look as confident as possible, and opened the door to the ship, its' ramp lowering slowly as she did so.

Quietly and confidently she strode out and down the ramp, her tail wrapped securely around her waist, silently thankful that the looseness of her fatigues hid the bulge in her stomach. That was one weakness they didn't need to know about.

It was then that she got a good look at her captors. There were six of them. Three of them were odd green-colored creatures that looked small in stature. They were nothing like the saibamen that had once slaughtered her ex lover, but rather more frog like in appearance in the face. The three of them had gun-like devices latched onto their wrists, which they pointed very confidently at her.

The other three were in a league of their own. The first was a large humanoid type that looked not unlike a human except for his hulking size, and the fact that his entire body was covered in thick blue fur. The fur only thinned at his face, which sported two feline looking eyes, and a pair of sharp fangs, which showed even when his mouth was closed.

The second of the three was tall, but not nearly as hulking. He was an odd shade of pink, and looked like a mix between a fish and a bug of some sort. He had four arms, which were folded on his chest in a stoic manner, his strange mouth salivating almost constantly.

The last was the smallest of them, and he stood back some. He was the oddest only because of his limbs. His legs bent backwards, and then forward again towards the feet, which sported large, reptilian-like claws.. He was yellow in color, his large, orange eyes focused on something off in the distance as if the situation was of no concern to him. His face resembled that of some sort of prehistoric reptile as well, and his arms, although somewhat short, gave evidence to his strength. He was by no means weak, and by the looks of the decoration on his armor, he was the leader of that particular pack.

The reptilian one spoke in a low, spine-chilling voice, his sharp rows of teeth revealing themselves at each word. "She is of little threat to us. Let the three pawns apprehend her." He spoke bluntly.

For a brief moment, Bulma hesitated. Everything she had known her entire life was that she was a woman, frail and small, and could not handle herself.. These were the very things that her mate had tried so hard to keep her from believing. She was not human, and therefore she was not weak. She didn't understand until the moment the three green gunmen readied to fire.

Her entire world seemed to slow down. She didn't understand the power she held, or rather the speed at which she could move because the only real opponent she ever faced was Vegeta, and he always seemed miles ahead of her.. But these men, she couldn't help but see everything they did as if it were done by a feeble old man, slowly and sloppily.

It wasn't like she tried to do it. Well I mean, she did do it, but it wasn't her intention to go as far as it had. Like a second nature she had so easily reached out with her ki as a deterrence, and swatted away the seemingly slow-moving projectiles that were sent from the three gunmen's weapons as if they were little more than pebbles being tossed her way.

Within a flash she had retaliated, it was more reactionary since she had spent time purposely sparring with her mate as he had driven her to get stronger.. One hand had been clenched into a fist, and sent into the gut of one of the little underlings, and she almost wretched at the sound of its' ribs and internal organs tearing and cracking from the impact. One. Two. Three. All three of them in three separate blows. The first with her fist, the second with her knee, and the third with her foot. All three ended up in a heap on the ground, blue blood spattered out of their mouths, their breaths labored, and slowing quickly.

Never in her life had she taken a life, and she felt a pang of guilt to beings who were no doubt simply doing their job to prevent what may have been a much worse fate. Here they lay, crumpled to the ground, their internal injuries present on the expressions on their faces. She didn't even have time to mourn for their pain, as a blast of ki from the yellow reptile quickly disposed of their bodies before they even had a chance to breathe their last.

"Ohoho, the little monkey princess has claws." The hulking feline like creature boasted, licking his sharp fangs in anticipation. "Hey there Kralo, mind if I take her down a few notches? If she wasn't so small I'd say she was trying to look down on us. We can't have that.." His booming voice inquired.

The leader, whom Bulma now had a name for, Kralo, replied with a nod. "That's fine, Yitza. We know how you love to torture women."

The large one seemed to simply salivate at the thought of what was apparently to come. Bulma had begun to get a sense of someone's potential ki a while ago. Vegeta had made sure she knew how to tell, in case she was put into a situation like this, so she could guage her chance for survival, or rather a means to determine how much ki she would have to reveal to her opponents by defeating them. He had informed her that ki sensing and suppression was unique to Earth. No other race in the galaxy had the ability or the knowledge, and it was probably the only good thing to come of the planet. It was never a good idea to tell anyone...

Yitza, as he was called, mocked Bulma. "Did that prince rip off your tongue, puny woman?" He goaded, and he moved over to her, placing his massive hand on her head. He smelled of blood and death, it was a disgusting scent.

"He did not." She replied, her eye twitching at the contact his massive paw-like hand had with her head. With a twitch, her hands reached up and grabbed his wrist, and with much strength she threw him by his arm, sending him careening into a large rock structure. It shattered on impact, and he laid there like a slug for a few minutes in shock.

"You filthy monkey slut!" He yowled at the top of his lungs, lunging with all his might towards her in response, his claws and fangs bared. "I'll rip out your spine for that!"

Again, her world seemed to slow down. Everything seemed to be in slow motion, and she found it so easy to sidestep the beast. She felt like she was almost on auto-pilot. Her hand held out flat, and with a slight gust of ki she stopped Yitza in his tracks, all the while knocking the wind out of him. With the needed effect achieved, she jumped up only slightly to send a knee into the creatures' face, the gut-wrenching cracking noise, coupled with the sputter of purple blood mixed with sharp broken teeth that spewed from the beasts' mouth was enough to turn most humans' stomachs. The creature flew up and back, landing with a thud on the ground nearby. His face had been absolutely mangled, and Bulma resisted the urge to cringe and lose her lunch. She knew well enough not to show that kind of weakness.

Yitza did not get up. He laid there, his face no longer recognizable. It seemed his own sharp teeth had served to be his undoing, and apparently a few of them had lodged themselves in his brain on the crushing impact. If he was still alive, he sure as hell wasn't showing signs of it, and the two remaining opposition showed little sign of caring. This didn't surprise her. She knew how little Frieza's troops cared for one another s' well being.

The fish like creature, still without a name, did suddenly seem incredibly apprehensive. He took a step back, his jaw going slack at his comrade's fate. He didn't care that Yitza had been defeated, but he did care that he was the next in line to fight. He quickly regained his composure when he heard his superior speak.

"She's insubordinate, isn't she? Lord Cooler will not be pleased if we do not bring her back soon. Take care of it, Hadak." The reptile spoke.

Hadak grinned knowingly, and spread his feet in a fighting stance. "You'll wish you hadn't met me, you dirty ape." He squinted his beady eyes and let out a long, concentrated hiss, which caused Bulma some unease. What was he doing? She tightened her stance, no longer feeling it safe to simply stand still and indifferent, and eyed him curiously.

It was too late when she realized he was doing, as a thin blast of ki shot from one of his slimy fingertips, and though she had managed to move, it did graze her left shoulder, bright red blood leaking out seconds later, and the familiar sting of pain struck her. While it was nothing that would really effect her, it still was discomforting.

Just like that Hadak hissed, and shot out towards her at a speed quite a bit faster than Yitza's had been. Immediately on the defensive, she began to move and dodge, using her limbs and ki to keep from damaging her midsection without making it obvious. Still, to her the world seemed slow, not as slow as it had gotten with Yitza, but slow enough that she didn't feel like she had been having trouble.

She waited patiently before she found the opening Vegeta had always pressed on her to look for.. The moment when her opponents' defenses were weakest, and take advantage of it. Just like that her knee came up, making contact with Hadak's chest, and sending him flying up into the air. She leapt with great ease after him, using a bit of her ki to project her faster, before she found herself above him, and planting the heel of her boot right into the back of his neck. It cracked loudly and violently, as his body flew down to the ground, slamming into the dirt and rock, and causing a small crater to form around it. She landed nearby soon after, breathing out with a sigh of relief. Still, there was one left, and she knew as well as any that the last to fight was always the strongest, and usually much, much stronger than the ones they sent in their stead.

"I'll give you credit.." Kralo spouted smugly. "Usually the subordinates I choose don't get taken down so quickly. . But you're more pathetic than your mate." He scoffed.

Bulma's stomach turned. How could these creatures possibly know? Who could have told them something like this? It infuriated and frightened her all at once. Kralo was the one she worried about. She could sense his power level, and it was much higher than the others.. She wasn't self-aware of her own ki and it's potential, but the drastic difference in ki levels were more than discerning for her.

"It's your own fault for sending weaklings to battle in your stead." She huffed, using her mate's advice to never show her fear, and play the mind game as best she could. "And you call me pathetic. Tch."

All at once her world sped up when Kralo made his move, and she immediately found herself on the defensive. This fighter was fast and strong, and she found herself barely able to keep up, if at all. Little by little her ki was increased as she released it, using what she could to protect her chest and stomach. Her arms and legs took much damage in the process, and kralo halted his assault. In that time Bulma had landed a good hit or two on his face, and green blood seeped from the corner's of his mouth.

"Aha. You favor that area, hmm? Woman, you're transparent as glass. Your Mate will be destroyed, and I will be sure to destroy that remnant of him that grows in you!" He laughed, and lunged at Bulma again.

A sense of desperation hit her. She had been too obvious, she had given away her secret! Now the most precious thing of all to her was in danger.. It was all her fault. Did they not say they simply wanted to apprehend her? She chided herself as she thought of how foolish she had been.

Tears fell from the corners of her eyes as she so feverishly did all she could to keep that creatures' limbs from reaching her stomach. Her arms felt like jelly, her entire body ached... She hadn't realized how far from the ship she had been led off to as she fought with Kralo in mid-air. She also didn't notice the telltale sounds of a different battle getting ever closer.

All she knew and felt was a feeling of need, a feeling of anger at the implication this filthy creature had implied. It was a common occurrence for saiya-jins to gain a moment of fury in a tough battle, but she hadn't thought it would happen to her.

Bulma's ki exploded, not nearly as impressive still as her mates', but enough to shock her opponent, sending him flying backwards at the sheer intensity of it compared to his own. Again, her world slowed down, and she gained clarity once more.

She found herself charging at Kralo, her own canines bared in a feral roar as she slammed her fist into the creatures' stomach with all the strength she had, ki concenntrating at the end of her fist, before finally shooting forward and through the creatures' body, creating a gaping hole in his torso. Kralo sputtered and spat out a large amount of blood, floating wide-eyed for a brief moment, before falling lifelessly to the ground, which seemed so far below her now.

Her ki fell quickly then, the adrenaline of the moment escaping her as she lowered herself to the ground, landing far enough away from the lifeless body of Kralo so that she could not see what she had done to him. Hell, she barely realized it. Somehow, she had created a hole in his body, and she really did not want to think about it.

Her limbs trembled as she struggled to keep standing, one hand resting on a large boulder, using it for support to keep herself up. She was alive, and though she was battered and bruised, her baby was safe. She could feel it shifting in her womb, and giving her a little kick. Normally the pain from its' movement taxed her, but it currently served as reassurance to her.

Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in her neck, and her world went black.

* * *

Vegeta dragged himself up from the ground, his left arm having fallen numb. Surely, his shoulder had been dislocated. His teeth grit and he spit out a mouthful of blood, dark eyes glaring at the cloud of dust that surrounded him from his recent impact with the ground. This battle was trying. It was like he was buying time for nothing.

When the dust cleared, there was cooler, looking quite smug, and only somewhat bruised. He had been forced into his final form, which was an accomplishment for Vegeta, but that didn't mean that he had been prepared for it.

"My my. Here I am, having a grand time with you, and I found something really special." That cruel voice ripped through the air at Vegeta. "I'll give you one last chance to submit to me, monkey." He goaded, before lifting his hand. Gripped in his slimy fingers, was Bulma's neck. Her entire body was limp, including her tail, and she looked as if she had the pulp beat out of her, with gashes and bruises up and down her arms.

"What's this I've found? Oh, you think I didn't know about her, did you? Oh yes. I knew. A little birdy in a certain city planet squawked for me after you made a show at a warehouse. Tsk tsk. You're so sloppy.. " He paused, looking at the woman, who only now had begun to regain consciousness. "Oh, but where were my bodyguards I sent to retrieve you? You can't possibly tell me you took down Kralo all by yourself? Has a certain monkey been teaching you to play rough? I must say, I'm almost impressed.. Almost.."

Bulma's eyes opened, but her vision was blurred by exhaustion and pain. She came to quickly realize the cold, slimy fingers that grasped her neck was not friendly. Instinctively, her hands rose, and grasped at the digits that grabbed her neck, putting all parts of her being into trying to pry the fingers away.

Cooler laughed smugly at her vain attempt to escape. She wasn't even aware that she was gasping as he tightened his grip on her trachea; slowly cutting off her ability to breathe.

"Release the woman!" Vegeta shouted, his eyes widened with rage. On the one hand, if she had in fact taken out the bodyguards that had been sent to retrieve her, he was mildly pleased by her, but all of that was taken away by cooler's grip on her neck. She was suffocating, barely conscious as it is.

"Oho, I have hit a soft spot, have I? Who is she to you? Your wife? No, that's not the right word for your kind.. Your mate. Yes, that's it. I can smell you on her. And what's this?" He lifted her by the head, and touched the bulge on her stomach.. "Was my dirty little plaything trying to reproduce? How can I allow that? Should I extinguish them both at the same time? Or the fetus first? Ah hell, I think watching her struggle and suffocate is much more fun.." His grip tightened ever so slightly, and Bulma's legs kicked frantically, digits clawing desperately at the hand that grabbed her.. She tried so hard to talk, to speak..

"Ve- guh- " She managed to sputter. The earth around them began to erupt , dust and debris flying about in what seemed to be some sort of explosion. That's all that she saw before her world began to grow black.

* * *

AN: Maybe I'll just let you guys stew on that for a while. Maybe not. I haven't decided how long I'll let this cliffhanger go on.


	18. Chapter 18

Well, I decided I didn't want you guys to sit on this cliffhanger for over a week.. I'm not sure when I'll have time this week to write again since I expect to be working a heck of a lot. That's actually a good thing since I have been going through some nasty financial troubles as of late.

Anyway, I've never written fight scenes before, so I hope the last chapter wasn't too terrible. I want to fit in a bit more fighting in this chapter as well, focusing more on Vegeta's confrontation with Cooler rather than Bulma, so it skips back a bit, but eventually meets up in the middle, so to speak. Hopefully I didn't make it too confusing for you folks.

I hope I made it clear enough in the last chapter that Bulma simply had an increase in ki [since she hadn't quite gotten the hang of how much ki and how powerful she really is] and she did not in fact get even close to ascending. In fact she is probably never going to.

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or any of it's characters.

* * *

Chapter Eighteen

* * *

_Cooler laughed mockingly at the diminutive Saiya-jin prince, before finally reaching his point. "I've come to continue my brothers' endeavors. There are many planets that need your attention, and it would be in your best interest to come along without a fuss.." He reasoned, waving a hand in a nonchalant manner as he spoke._

Vegeta scoffed at his bargain and waved a gloved hand in a dismissive fashion. "And what makes you think that I am simply going to fall in line like a mindless drone? I am not so willing to become anyone's slave." He spat in Cooler's direction to emphasize his point.

Cooler frowned at the Prince's defiance, and let out a long, exasperated sigh. His voice, so much lower than his younger brothers' pierced the air as he spoke. "I really hated for it to have to come to this. I was hoping you would be cooperative." He raised one hand slowly, giving a motion for the few fighters that had not flown off.

Vegeta shifted himself into a defensive position and stretched out his senses, finding the ki of the creatures' he was supposed to be defeated by. They weren't of much consequence, probably leveling around what Dodoria had been back on Namek, and therefore not even a challenge to him. He turned his back to Cooler and his little entourage in a show of disrespect, and allowed the corners of his mouth to curve upwards as he heard the ice-jin growl at his display.

The three fighters lunged all at once at Vegeta, each equally eager to impress their master, and appease his anger.. How little they knew. How little Cooler knew of the Saiya-jin prince's power. It seemed so fast that the three fighters didn't even have a chance to blink. It was as if the Prince had all but dematerialized before them, and each of them had gaping holes in their torsos. They were just too slow and clumsy, and their eyes had not been trained to process the speed at which he could move.

Cooler seemed at least somewhat surprised. While he hadn't expected his minions to win, he had at least expected to see a bit of a fight. It was kind of disappointing to see his underlings fall so easily. What's more, is his scouter had barely registered the sudden increase, and then decrease in the saiya-jin's power. He lifted a hand to tap the device idly as if it was malfunctioning, his eye twitching slightly as he heard Vegeta's smug chuckle carrying through the wind.

"What's wrong, Cooler? That hunk of junk not working? Here, let me fix it for you." With that, he held out his hand, and a small beam of ki shot from his palm, immediately making contact with the scouter, and shattering it on impact.

Cooler gasped as the device exploded into many pieces, and he let out an audible grunt of displeasure, his long tail twisting and whipping about to express his irritation. "Why you- You insolent little monkey!" He shouted, pointing threateningly. "You want to fight me so badly, then so be it." He scoffed, before lunging at the Prince with great speed.

The fight at first was much like any fight Vegeta faced.. He would hold back his strength, quickly raising it as time went on until he could match his opponent's blows.. Unfortunately, the power that Cooler possessed was well beyond his means, and he knew it. He quickly began raising hi ki, each time he attempted to land an attack, he seemed to be so easily swatted away, coming back each time with more power.

_I've trained tirelessly, I've damaged myself and come back each time, I must succeed! I am the legendary, no third-class buffoon will outshine me, the Prince of all Saiya-jins! _Vegeta chanted to himself as he came again and again for his punishment, each time pushing himself further and further. He had to win, he had to prove his superiority!

"What's wrong, little Prince?" Cooler gloated, easily dismissing Vegeta's attacks for quite some time, and each time he came back for more, he shot another snide comment.. Soon he began to note the changes in his assaults. He had hoped that showing the Prince that his attempts were wasted, and that it would be better if he just fell in line.. But it didn't seem to be the case.. If anything, he began to realize that Vegeta was holding back.

Each attack became stronger, faster, and soon Cooler began to feel the pressure.. It became less of a game of swatting flies, and more of an actual fight. They began to actually exchange blows... Slowly but surely, the Ice-jinn lord was noticing that he had gone from the offensive to the defensive. The direction of the battle began to shift, and it wasn't in Cooler's favor.

"You monkey brat!" Cooler spat out a mouthful of purple blood, before flying backwards a bit.. The Prince looked so smug it burned the Ice-jinn to his very core. How dare he act in such a manner in front of his Lord! He let out a hiss, and backed away only enough to allow himself time for his next move.

Every single muscle in his body began to twitch, before expanding considerably.. The strange white dome atop his head stretched into four long, intimidating spikes, and the red pupils of his eyes grew, until the entirety of each portal was a shimmering, blood red.. The final touch was a strange mask that covered his mouth, leaving him looking like something akin to a machine instead of a lizard.

Regardless of his odd appearance, he had grown considerably in strength.

Vegeta had been absolutely floored by the transformation. _Impossible! Not even Frieza could transform past the form! I was so sure I had this! _ He became immediately aware at that point that he had been fighting with every last ounce of himself.. His ki had been released to it's full capacity, and he was only barely getting the upper hand on Cooler.. Now, he was completely outmatched.

He growled loudly at the realization that this was no longer a winning battle... Quickly, he shoved that thought out of his head. _No! I will win! I must win! This disgusting lizard will not enslave me! I will die first!_

The fight resumed, but it had unfortunately turned into a game of cat and mouse.. And by that, it was cooler simply mercilessly beating the Prince into a bloody pulp. At one point he grabbed hold of Vegeta's torso, grabbing his arm, and giving it a quick tug.. The prince howled and roared in pain at the feel of his shoulder being yanked out of its' socket, before he used every last ounce of himself to pry himself free, releasing an explosion of ki as a means to do so.

The two fighters fell to the ground the explosion, causing a dust cloud to erupt around both of them, shrouding the battlefield. Vegeta stood, and groaned loudly as he reached over, twisting his shoulder using his other hand, back into it's socket. He released little more than a grunt at the dull pain that followed, his gaze narrowing to the silhouette of cooler as the dust began to clear.

* * *

Cooler had hit the ground with a thud, feeling little of the impact.. He stood up, grumbling to himself at how easily he had let his guard down in his pleasure of making the monkey squirm.. Still, was it too late to have some more fun? Oh no, he could see the female Saiya-jin in the corner of his eye.. She was close enough to touch, and by the looks of her, in no condition to fight.. He lifted a hand, and brought it down swiftly to the base of Bulma's head. Yes, he remembered the report from the warehouse keeper. The female of unusual color that Vegeta had taken as his princess. His life mate. He could smell the blood of his subordinates on her, which had surprised him. He had sent quite the powerful squad to obtain her, but that was no matter now. As the woman fell limp, he reached down and grabbed her by the neck.

His voice pierced the air again, and sent a chill down his spine.. Something was wrong, more than just his dwindling power...

"My my. Here I am, having a grand time with you, and I found something really special... I'll give you one last chance to submit to me, monkey." He goaded, before lifting his hand. Gripped in his slimy fingers, was Bulma's neck. Her entire body was limp, including her tail, and she looked as if she had the pulp beat out of her, with gashes and bruises up and down her arms.

What's this I've found? Oh, you think I didn't know about her, did you? Oh yes. I knew. A little birdy in a certain city planet squawked for me after you made a show at a warehouse. Tsk tsk. You're so sloppy.. " He paused, looking at the woman, who only now had begun to regain consciousness. "Oh, but where were my bodyguards I sent to retrieve you? You can't possibly tell me you took down Kralo all by yourself? Has a certain monkey been teaching you to play rough? I must say, I'm almost impressed.. Almost.."

Bulma's eyes opened, but her vision was blurred by exhaustion and pain. She came to quickly realize the cold, slimy fingers that grasped her neck was not friendly. Instinctively, her hands rose, and grasped at the digits that grabbed her neck, putting all parts of her being into trying to pry the fingers away.

Cooler laughed smugly at her vain attempt to escape. She wasn't even aware that she was gasping as he tightened his grip on her trachea; slowly cutting off her ability to breathe.

"Release the woman!" Vegeta shouted, his eyes widened with rage. On the one hand, if she had in fact taken out the bodyguards that had been sent to retrieve her, he was mildly pleased by her, but all of that was taken away by cooler's grip on her neck. She was suffocating, barely conscious as it is.

"Oho, I have hit a soft spot, have I? Who is she to you? Your wife? No, that's not the right word for your kind.. Your mate. Yes, that's it. I can smell you on her. And what's this?" He lifted her by the head, and touched the bulge on her stomach.. "Was my dirty little plaything trying to reproduce? How can I allow that? Should I extinguish them both at the same time? Or the fetus first? Ah hell, I think watching her struggle and suffocate is much more fun.." His grip tightened ever so slightly, and Bulma's legs kicked frantically, digits clawing desperately at the hand that grabbed her.. She tried so hard to talk, to speak..

Vegeta wanted so badly to bear her pain, to cry to the heavens to save her. He could see, no, he could _feel_ the life being sucked out of her at each of her labored breaths. She was losing consciousness. _No! Not my mate, you will not have my mate! She is greater than all of us, and my heir will have his chance at life! _His mind raged to himself.. He could feel the need, the absolute burning within his very being to protect the few things in his life that had given him peace, and had completed him.

It was all at once he felt the explosion of power. He hadn't even realized he had done it. It was sometime between when he saw his mate struggling to stay conscious, and when he had lunged in Cooler's direction with rage and desperation in his expression. His aura crackled in it's blue form for only a minute, before a gush of golden light pushed forth from him.

He didn't even see it. It didn't matter, nothing did except her. He didn't notice that his tall, flame-shaped hair had changed from root to tip, or that the colors of his eyes had become a bright shade of turquoise.. All that mattered was her.. He drove himself into cooler at such force and speed that the lizard gasped, and his grip immediately released from Bulma's neck...

Bulma was likely to go flying in the opposite direction, and she would have been helpless to stop it, but subconsciously, Vegeta had somehow latched onto her waist with a free appendage, all the while enveloping her in the protection of his ever expanding ki.

Cooler yowled in shock at the Prince's sudden change, eyes widening at the sheer power he displayed. He did not need a scouter to know that the Saiya-jin had accomplished what he had been yearning to reach his entire life.. The lizard suddenly felt so humbled by it.

The fight's direction changed radically in Vegeta's favor.. Mercilessly he pummeled Cooler, who could hardly get a blow in.. He had turned the table, and had begun to show the lizard the same courtesy he was shown only moments before.

The fight rocked the terrain around them, and it was probably a good thing that they had moved the fight pretty far from both of their ships.. Still, Vegeta wasn't in the mood to play with his prey for much longer..

"You will not live to touch my mate again." He seethed, barely aware of anything except the burning rage he felt. His ki seemed to grow and grow even now, and he saw how the lizard cowered at the pressure he released with his ki.. He didn't even give the creature a chance to respond. He simply jumped back into the fray of the fight, taking great pleasure in releasing blasts of ki in intervals often enough to slowly take chunks of the ice-jinn's body away.. First it was his legs, his tail, and then his arms, before he grabbed the creature, who was now prone to sputtering blood and growling by the neck.. "You will go to hell for all you've done. There you can meet your family and wish you never met a saiya-jin." With that, he formed a massive amount of ki in his palm, and released it all at once, completely disintegrating what remained of cooler.

He panted there in the air for a few moments, his mind catching up to what had occurred. Cooler was dead.. He was dead... And Bulma.. Bulma, was she safe? He looked down suddenly, and saw her hanging limply within his ki.. Something familiar twitched, and he became instantly aware that what held her was his tail. There it was, coiled protectively around her waist, the end twitching only slightly against her torso.

But wait, when was it gold? Wait... Idly, his hand rose and digits brushed through his hair... He had.. He had done it! But how? His immediately made the connection. It was her.. No, it was her need to protect her, to have her with him as he was entitled to. He was proud of her and scared for her all at once. Proud that she had come so far, and had overcome her own battles, but scared for her, and her child, and for her life.. A feeling of longing and the need to protect someone was foreign to him.. Until now.

He reached his hands down, and plucked his woman up into his arms, desperately seeking her ki, and the ki of their child.. She was alive, and it seemed that so was his heir. His heir's ki wavered in discomfort, but seemed none the worse for wear. He tugged at her shirt, un-tucking it before examining the exposed flesh of her stomach. It was unharmed, not a single mark on it, yet her limbs were marred, by the looks of it, she had broken a bone or two.. He understood then what she had done. Sacrificed all she could to protect their child, and still she had overcome her opponents.

He shook her gently, in an attempt to rouse her into consciousness.. After a few attempts, she felt her stir, and a low groan escaped from her lips.. Her voice was raspy, and her arm rose, a hand brushing against her throat.. There were bruises in her flesh from where Cooler's fingers had dug into her neck as he choked her, and she idly rubbed them as she coughed and wheezed once or twice, eyes suddenly bolting open.

"LET ME-... …." She fell silent when she saw his face.. It was so different yet the same.. "Vegeta?" She said in that strained voice, her vocal chords having been damaged by the constriction on her trachea. It would heal, she was saiya-jin after all, but for now it was a labor to talk.. "You- You're-"

"I know, Onna." He said in a grave tone. He flew off with her in his arms, but not towards their own ship.. It was Cooler's craft that was of particular interest to him. He landed moments later at the still open entrance to the ship, and carried her inside.. Any being that was inside was quickly and quietly disposed of, making sure he kept his mate tucked against his chest as to keep her from seeing what it was he was doing.

He knew all too well the layout of the ice-jin ships, and quickly found what he was looking for: The restoration chambers. His gloved digits danced over the keys and put in his code, surprised that it was still active within the World Trade Organization's database, before hastilly depositing Bulma inside of one of the chambers.. He secured the mask over her face removed her clothing aside from her undergarments, and shut the door, engaging the restoration. By now, Bulma had lost consciousness again, but it was well enough. The oxygen was laced with something to aid her recovery as well, and it normally caused whoever was breathing it, himself included, to lose consciousness.

* * *

Hours passed, and Vegeta stood diligently by the chamber, waiting and watching. It seemed like an eternity to him, but slowly he watched as her wounds faded.. He had not sustained such a horrible array of injuries, but she had taken that pain upon herself for a greater purpose.

The red light turned green above the chamber, and the liquid drained quickly from it, before the door opened with a hiss. Bulma let out a cough, before yanking the mask off her face as if it offended her.. She felt well enough, but her legs felt like gelatin.. "Nnh. Huh?" Her gaze lowered, because the second she emerged from the chamber, she felt something soft find its' way around her thigh.. It took her a moment to realize that furry appendage was not hers, and she followed it to it's source.

"Your tail!" Bulma chirped, throwing herself into the arms of a now normal-looking Vegeta, who caught her with ease. She buried her nose into the nape of his neck, and inhaled his scent, her own tail coiling around one of his thighs..

He allowed her this moment of affection, burrowing his nose into her hair as if it had been ages since he'd last done so. Despite the fact that her hair was wet with the regeneration fluid, he could still smell her scent, and he nearly purred as it filled his nostrils.

Still, he had to break the moment of peace up, reaching up with both hands to grasp gently each side of her face, tugging her to look at him in the eyes. "You, how could you be so careless?" He wasn't yelling, but he sure as hell did sound angry. "What did I tell you about Cooler? How could you just go out and start a fight! If you had just stayed at the ship you would not have gotten hurt! You almost died!" Although he came off as angry, Bulma surely saw right through that facade of his, and read the concern that was written between the lines.

That didn't stop Bulma from retorting, however. "Well EXCUSE ME, your highness!" She huffed. "If you must know, they already somehow knew I was here! Hell, they came to the ship, and it was either I fought them, or 'go quietly', and that would have landed me in a compromising position either way, now wouldn't it? Nothing happened to our baby, I made damn sure of that!" She pulled herself away, and turned her back to Vegeta, folding her arms over her chest.

She was right, of course, And Vegeta's resolve melted at her logic. She had defeated her opponents, and had he and Cooler not strayed so far from their original place of battle, that filthy lizard would never have found her. If she had simply given in, he would have used her as a bargaining device a lot sooner. "It seems the warehouse keeper we bought the reactor from was under the employ of Cooler. There was no way to know he knew you were with me." He admitted finally, reaching out to grasp her shoulder, so he could turn her to face him. "Surely after all of this you must be hungry." He admitted. "And the child needs food as well.."

That was one way to change subjects without Vegeta admitting he was wrong.. It was good enough for Bulma, though, as she reached out to place a hand on her mate's cheek as a sign of relenting, before releasing his thigh from her tails' grip. "You're right of course." She admitted, before the two of them exited the ship, which Vegeta made sure to destroy as they took to the sky, heading towards their own ship.

It had been a long, arduous day, and the both of them were not only exhausted, but absolutely famished. Thankfully, it was just around the time that the servo-bots would be finishing dinner, and when they arrived at their undamaged ship, they were greeted by the scent of dinner.

Niether Vegeta nor Bulma wasted time in retreating downstairs to the kitchen area, where they settled down in their usual seats, and began to hastilly consume their meals. Bulma probably felt hungrier than she ever had in her life, and she now understood why Goku had always gotten so weak and lightheaded after a long, hard fight. Hell, she probably felt it worse because of the life inside of her that demanded a great deal of sustenance as well.

It wasn't until the two of them had stopped eating, their hunger sated, that Bulma had decided to speak.. "Do you feel any different?" She inquired, hoping that Vegeta knew what it was she was referring to.

Vegeta shook his head. "No." He said plainly. "It's not a matter of strength, as much as I'd hate to admit it. It's getting to the point where you can trigger it." Though that didn't mean any weak saiya-jin could accomplish it, it just meant that you could push your body to it's limits time and time again and never reach it, if you never found the key to unlock it.

She fell silent, staring down at her plate. Bulma seemed suddenly so glum.. "I felt afraid.. Afraid for the baby. I always told myself that I would never kill anyone.. Some part of me is telling me to feel remorse for what I've done, and to an extreme I do.. But.."

"You did what you had to do to protect yourself and our child." He cut in quickly. "There is no shame in that. You ended their lives to protect your own and one that could not defend itself. You did not end their lives as a cruel, heartless act, as I have done much of my life." That last part caused his voice to waver if only for a moment. "You should feel no remorse for what you have done. You committed no crimes, yet they sought to end your life, or at least to take your life at their mercy, and at the mercy of their master, who had every intent to kill you."

Vegeta stood from his chair, and moved around the table to stand directly behind her. He leaned down, and brought his lips to her ear, talking in a very quiet tone. "You should be proud of what you have done. You fought in a manner worthy of a Saiya-jin elite.. No, worthy of a Saiya-jin queen." There was a moment of silence, perhaps just for effect. "I am proud of you."

It was so rare that Vegeta openly complimented Bulma, that she had stiffened in disbelief. When his words finally sunk in, she turned quickly, and threw her arms around her mate's neck before he had a chance to evade, crashing her lips against his own. She had tackled him with such power that he had to take a few steps back, until his back hit the wall.

Within seconds, however, he had turned them about, so that she was pressed against the wall. His tail uncoiled from his waist and found it''s way to hers', entwining itself with the other appendage in a manner that seemed symbolic of their status as mates. There were no words spoken then, not even when he broke their embrace to bury his face in her neck, very enthusiastically dragging his lips, canines, and tongue over the flesh he found there. He reveled at the sound of her whimpers and moans, and seemed altogether too pleased when she threw her legs around his waist.

Despite the pain of her child shifting in the womb and giving her a kick, she had no intention of stopping. She could smell his intentention. Hell, she could feel it pressing against her as he tore at her clothing and growled in a predatory fashion. After all they had been through, after all the pain and stress they had been put through, the threat to their existence, and the threat to their child was gone, leaving them to enjoy one another the way they were meant to.

* * *

There likely had never been so passionate a night between the two of them, but no one could blame them. Near-death experiences seemed to bring that out in people, especially saiya-jins who act so strongly on instinct. Regarless, Vegeta and Bulma had slept so long that the time the ship kept had already started to near lunch.. The two of them lay entangled in one another's arms in their bed, their tails spiraled around the other, as they had been the entire night.

Vegeta had awakened first, and attempted to climb out of bed in a vain attempt to allow his mate to sleep, but to no avail.. As soon as the warmth of his body left Bulmas, she let out a small whimper, and her eyes fluttered open.

She lifted her hands and rubbed the exhaustion from her eyes, before slowly dragging herself up to a seated position. Her body thrummed with a dull ache from their acrobatic activities from the night before, but it was nothing compared to the pain of her child, whom was now only two months from his due date, kicked her, causing her to grunt and wince visibly. "All right, little one, I'll eat!" She protested to her belly, before carelessly meandering to the bathroom. Even if they were out in space she still made attempts to beautify herself.

Eventually, they both made it to the lunch table, where a meal had been prepared for them. By that time Bulma had seemed absolutely lost in thought, and didn't even regard Vegeta as she sat down, and began to eat in silence.

Vegeta seemed somewhat baffled by her oddly quiet demeanor. She was always a chatterbox, and while he did value silence, he could feel her warring state. The bond was both a blessing and a curse, after all.

He grunted, signaling her to speak. He wasn't going to outright ask what was wrong, after all. It wasn't his way of doing things.

Bulma knew what Vegeta wanted. She could tell he knew she was conflicted, and she put down her chopsticks, letting out a long sight. "Vegeta.. I think it's time we went back to Earth." She said finally, noting how he nearly choked on some rice as she said that.

"Wh- What? Why would you-? I thought you-"

She lifted a hand in a manner much like Vegeta would when he wanted her quiet. "Look. I understand.. But I've been thinking a hell of a lot about what we've been doing, and about our child.. Do you really think wandering aimlessly around the universe is a good thing for a child? I mean, even a saiya-jin child should have a place to call home, right?"

He grunted again, placing his fork down. "I had no home since I was a boy." He stated simply. "And I thought you hated those two humans who lied to you?"

She growled threateningly towards him, as if daring him to try and cross that line again. "You had a home, and don't tell me you don't ache for it even now.. " She tossed a plate at him, wwhich he dodged, allowing it to break against the wall behind him. "And don't you dare talk about them that way! Yes, they lied, but they didn't know what I was and they were only doing that to protect me. They thought it was what's best.." Bulma trailed off a moment.. "I realize that now.. I guess I just needed time to... To cool off and figure out who and what I was.. If that makes any sense.." She lowered her head, and stared at her plate. "I don't hate them, Vegeta. How could I? They may not be my biological parents, but they raised me as if I was, and they've shown me nothing but kindness. While it may not have been the Saiya-jin way of raising young, it suited me just fine."

He scoffed "You are not human, Onna, nor should you have been raised like one."

She growled again, lifting her head and baring her canines at him. "They made me who I am today, Vegeta, and don't you dare tell me that I am not suitable for you. You may have given me the ability to control my strength but you haven't changed me! Do you really want me to change? Do you want me into something or someone else?" There was the slightest bit of pain emanating from her.

He hesitated a moment, before letting out a defeated sigh.. "No, Onna. I would not wish for or do any such thing." While he could best her in physical prowess, her intellect would always trump him. They were yin and yang, as it were. A perfect mix of two strengths, and it was for that reason that he had wanted her for a mate, and had rejoiced within himself when she had accepted him.

She offered him a smile, her tail reaching out under the table to coil around his ankle, and he obliged by doing the same with his own. "I'm glad you got your tail back.." She commented, receiving a rather pleased sounding grunt in return.

"We will leave today." His voice carried over the mountain of plates. "It will takes us a week or two to reach your home." Vegeta said finally, before the two of them fell into a comfortable silence. He could deny her nothing, especially when she was offering the most precious of all gifts. If Bulma wished for their child to see earth as his or her home, then he would grant her that.

* * *

AN: No cliffhanger today folks! We'll see their journey home in the next chapter!


	19. Chapter 19

It's kind of sad that we're starting to head towards the conclusion of the story. We've still got a few chapters, I think. It's still sad to me though.

The past couple chapters were a blast for me to write. While I'm not too keen on writing in fight scenes, I felt that I didn't drone on too long with them, while still making a valid point that they were trying battles. I didn't want the battles to last too long, I get bored of reading fics that have chapters and chapters of fighting, and I sure as heck am not going to do that.

Anyway, I guess I've been stalling from writing this chapter because it's one chapter closer to the end, and I don't want it to end! Well I do, but I don't. Ah well, hope you guys enjoy it. Also, huzzah for being over 100,000 words!

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or any of its characters.

* * *

Chapter Nineteen

* * *

It was as if nothing had changed, as if Vegeta hadn't ascended at all. Bulma had been sorely disappointed to find out that her mate had returned to his strenuous training regime, despite her hopes that he may actually slow down and spend a little bit of time in her company. All she could do was make the best of her time.

There would be no more training for Bulma on their long journey home. She had finally begun to reach the point in her pregnancy that moving around was a becoming a trying experience. Her girth had grown so much that she wondered if there was more than one life inside of her.. But no, Vegeta was certain that there had only been one ki signature in her womb. Still, it didn't make it any easier to deal with when the child decided to use _her_ as a training room.

Every so often Vegeta would find her crumpled on the floor, shivering in pain, but each time she refused his help. It took him a while to figure out why she had been so adverse to his help. It seemed some of his own pride had rubbed off on her, or maybe she had become more in tune with her own instincts. While the Prince wasn't one to willingly offer help, he had been prepared for her to be unprepared with the saiya-jin way of carrying a brat for a full term.

He had tried to cater to the fact that she had been raised a human, and seemed pleasantly surprised when she rejected his half-hearted attempts to pamper her as a human female would while pregnant. This particular time was no different. It had been time for lunch, and Vegeta had powered down the gravity, tossing a white towel over his bare shoulders as he carried himself downstairs.

There, beside the chair in the kitchen that Bulma normally sat in, was his mate, curled up on the floor, hands spread out over her swollen abdomen, a pained growl rumbling from her. Vegeta had silently knelt beside her, lowering his arms to attempt to gather her up, when he was greeted with a rather loud snarl, his mate's hands swatting his own away in a vicious manner.

"Don't touch me!" She hissed, drawing herself away from him as best she could. "He's just kicking! I can handle this myself!" Bulma hadn't meant to sound so angry, but when someone rather strong is beating you up from the inside, it tended to have that effect on you. "Just.. Just give me a moment.." She gritted between clenched teeth, planting her palms flat on the floor, and hoisting herself up. She twitched somewhat, and hunched forward a moment, before dropping herself into her chair. Her tail lashed to and fro in reflection of the pain she experienced, and she growled loudly at her stomach, as if trying to will the child to give her a few moments of peace.

Vegeta strode over to his own seat, feeling at least a brief moment of pride towards his mate, before silently turning his attention to his meal, only after he was sure Bulma had begun to eat. It was most important in this stage of her pregnancy to be eating as much as she could manage at each meal, after all. The child was obviously using more energy as each day passed, and the both of them were going to need it.

This was how many of their daily encounters while trapped on the ship went, for the exception of the evenings when Bulma felt stable enough to not refuse her mate's advances. He sure was demanding of her, but one would assume it was one of few activities that relieved the stress of simply being Vegeta.

"We're going to have to stop at a nearby planet and resupply." Vegeta broke their silence amidst their meal.

"No, that won't be necessary." Bulma interjected. "One of the capsule containers I brought is full of an extra set of food and supplies."

"And why have you not seen fit to tell me, Onna?" Vegeta said sharply, with as much of an irritable tone as he could muster.

"Simple. You gave me a hard time when you saw that I brought the capsule containers, so I figured I wasn't going to tell you as punishment. I'm not going to delay getting home any more than we have to." She said with a smirk, tossing a grape at him, though not surprised when he simply leaned back and caught it between his teeth.

Again and again Bulma had proved that Vegeta would be hard pressed to best her in a verbal sparring match. By the sound of it, she had that response planned out from the start, and it irked the Prince to no end. Still, there wasn't much he could do about it, and if anything it was her sharp mind and tongue that had drawn him to her in the first place.

Satisfied that Vegeta couldn't seem to come up with a good enough retort, Bulma returned to her meal, grunting only once as the child in her womb turned over, pressing its' weight into her pelvis. This kid was starting to cramp up that apartment, and she wanted to give it an eviction notice.. There was still a little .less than two months to go, but at least they would be arriving at Earth within the next day or two. She longed to see the sky of Earth again, smell the ocean, and even see her parents.

* * *

It had been much too long since Bulma had been seen at Capsule Corp. In her absence, Dr. Briefs had taken up the duties he had previously given to his daughter, explaining that she was on extended medical leave after the mysterious explosion at the compound.

He had been so certain that she would never return, having left without even a goodbye to him and his wife, but Bunny had been so set that her precious daughter would come back to them that she had insisted he kept the entire ordeal under wraps.

Some time during all of this, Goku had visited with the intention of peppering Bulma with questions on how she was dealing with this new side of her, and had been all but shocked to the core to find that she had run off into space with Vegeta.

"_Gone? With Vegeta? Gosh, I hope she's okay. Maybe we should go look for her.. Did he make her go with her? Like, you know, kidnapping?"_

_Bunny giggled excitedly and shook her head, dismissing the foolish boys' concern. "Oh no, Goku dear. Mr. Vegeta would never do anything like that! He likes her far too much!" She said, fanning herself for a moment or two. "Oh I do hope they bring back something from their travels! I would love some souvenirs from space!"_

_Goku stared at her quizzically, before scratching the back of his neck. "Vegeta likes Bulma? Are you sure that's a good thing?" Despite this, he was grinning ear to ear, it was a complete contradiction to the concern he tried to express._

"_Of course, sweetie! A strapping man like Vegeta needs a beautiful princess by his side! Oh and they would make such beautiful babies!" Bunny squealed, clapping her hands together a few times, before tucking her hand in the crook of Goku's arm. "Why don't you come this way, Goku, dear! I've made lunch and there's far too much for just me and my husband to eat!"_

Dr. Briefs shook his head at the memory of that visit. Sometimes not even he could tell whether his wife was delusional or not. Bulma had become a recluse of sorts in the short time after she had discovered the truth, and he had hardly seen her. It didn't surprise him in the least when he heard that ship taking off, with the two Saiya-jins on board. It was in her nature to explore and challenge herself, and he figured it was just her time to leave Earth, as much as it pained him to think he would not have anyone to carry on the company in his stead. Someone he could trust.

Life had gone on, albeit slowly at the company. The executive board Bulma had selected was a good balance of all things the company needed, her skills in selecting the right minds was impeccable, and it had to have to do with the instincts she naturally had. He had not been more proud of her than the day she had overcome his old board, and found her strength. He knew then the end of her time as a human was close, but god knew he tried with all his might to stop it.

The presence of the Saiya-jin prince didn't help. He wasn't going to lie and say he wasn't trying to keep them apart, but who could blame him? He was going to take his daughter away, but all his attempts just postponed the inevitable. He could see they were becoming enamored with one another, and he wondered if their strange unspoken dance was part of their alien traditions, engrained into their very core whether or not they were aware of it or not.

Dr. Briefs knew the second he saw them in close proximity that night in the study that he was going to lose his little girl, but what father wouldn't try to hang onto their daughter?

Things just weren't the same around the compound. It was too quiet. He missed his daughter's bantering in the labs, he missed having someone to bounce ideas off of.. He missed her spirit, and the way she and Bunny would chat about fashion and other womanly dealings as he enjoyed his meals.

Hell, he even missed the Pirnce in his own, twisted way. Vegeta gave him something to work for. The constant upgrades to the gravity chamber and the battle bots were a constant challenge for him and his daughter. On top of that, he brought out such life in Bulma that he hadn't seen since she first met Yamcha, before everything between the two of them went sour. Vegeta was rough, arrogant, and sometimes downright mean, and it excited his daughter in ways he didn't think possible. He had brought out a side of her that Dr. Briefs thought she didn't have.

Bunny just didn't seem the same since Bulma and Vegeta had left. While she tried her best to put up her normal, cheery front, there was a part of her that died on the inside with her daughter's absence. She missed her terribly, and perhaps that was why she was so determined that the heiress would return to them.

She could not fathom Bulma simply leaving everything behind forever. She had friends here, people who loved her and who she knew her daughter loved too. She would return, it was just a matter of time. Bunny felt that all her daughter needed was some time away to sort herself out, some time with her handsome Prince, to sort out how they felt about each other.

Every day she prepared as if Bulma would return, cooking enough to feed a small army. If her daughter didn't show, she simply had the food given to her pets, or donated to a local food shelter so none of it would go to waste. Things were just too quiet, even with all the paparazzi around and news reporters begging for an interview, asking about her poor Bulma, who thought she had been badly injured in 'the explosion'. How little they knew.

After a few months, the Briefs household had returned to as much of a normal lifestyle as they could without the presence of their spirited daughter or their surly houseguest. It wasn't an easy adjustment, but there was little they could do to change it. Any attempt to contact Bulma's Capsule Beta was blocked. It didn't surprise anyone, but it didn't stop Dr. Briefs from at least attempting to contact her once or twice a week, with no success.

It was damn near five months when the telltale sound of a ship breaking through the atmosphere would be heard on the compound. Bunny's heart skipped a few beats, and she dropped the glass of tea she had been enjoying, eagerly making her way out the kitchen door to be greeted with Dr. Briefs, whom had been outside talking to a subordinate when the ship came into view.

Bunny stood at her husbands' side when the ship expertly descended, settling down in the largest portion of the back yard, since the front did not provide near enough space for the enormity of the ship their daughter had created in secret. She grabbed hold of her husbands' arm, her hands shaking in anticipation as the door opened, and the ramp lowered with a telltale hiss.

Vegeta was the first to emerge, wearing his armor, which looked to have been somewhat damaged, and in turn repaired in some way. The blue suit underneath had expert stitching in a few areas, which seemed barely visible except to the naked eye. What was most surprising, however, was the long brown tail that was securely wrapped around his waist. That certainly was a new development.

Aside from that,The Prince did not look any different than usual. His normal scowl etched upon angled and decidedly masculine features. His onyx gaze regarded the Briefs' with a wary, almost distrustful gaze, his arms folded securely across his chest.

Bunny was the first to talk, squealing in excitement. "Oh Mister Vegeta! I'm so glad you're home! And look! Your tail is back! How wonderful! But- Where is-"

"She is coming, woman. She does not move quickly." He said sharply, looking over his shoulder to watch as Bulma slowly ascended the stairs that led up from the kitchen area of the ship.

Slowly, Bulma meandered into view. By now her stomach had grown to it's full roundness, being little more than a month away from her due date. She groaned as she took a moment to lean against the door of the ship, her own tail unraveling from about her waist to sway enough in an attempt to help her balance.

The Blue-haired demon of a woman ignored Bunny's squeals of joy as she slowly descended the ramp, and stopped by her mates' side.. His tail unraveled and found Bulma's, the two furry appendages wrapping around one another as the only form of public affection that was acceptable in their culture.

"Oh Bulma dear!" Bunny chirped, immediately shuffling to her and throwing her arms around her daughter's neck. She seemed only momentarily surprised at how different Bulma seemed. It was like she had leaned against a brick wall! While her daughter still looked slender and beautiful, she had unmistakeably gained a great deal of muscle during her travels, though some of it was hidden by her swollen abdomen. "I'm so glad to see you! And look! You brought something home after all!" She cooed, reaching down to rest a palm on Bulma's stomach.

Bulma wasn't sure how she would feel seeing her 'parents' after so long. She was certain she would feel some form of resentment towards them, but when she exited the ship and saw them there, she was hit with a growing feeling of warmth. It had been so long to her since she left, and she had been so busy training and exploring the universe that she didn't realize how much she actually missed them.

They had hurt her, lied to her, but above all, she still loved her family, and she couldn't help but give a laugh to her mother, gently wrapping her arms about Bunny's surprisingly fragile-feeling form. She wasn't lost to the stunned expression the woman gave her either. Bulma knew she had gotten considerably stronger, and would have to control herself around the much weaker bodies of the humans.

"Mooom!" Bulma said in embarrassment at Bunny's last comment. "Please, not out here!" She pleaded, but was cut off by her mother again.

"I was so hoping you'd bring home some grandchildren! Oh I'm so happy for both of you!" Bunny even seemed to shed a tear or two, as she continued to rub her daughters' stomach.

Dr. Briefs did little more than regard Vegeta with a respectful nod. Vegeta simply inclined his head and let out a grunt, acknowledging the lavender-haired scientist. He would allow his mate and her pseudo-dame to have their moment, as he stood close by in silence, his gaze turned away from the two of them in an attempt to give them some form of privacy. He didn't even bother to respond to Bunny's prattling about Bulma's pregnancy.

"Oh Mr. Vegeta, I'm so happy you took care of my Bulma!" Bunny cooed, reaching out to touch his bicep, and give it a squeeze. "I was so hoping you two would be together! But enough of this. You two must be starving! Come on into the kitchen, dears! I've prepared enough food for everyone!" She then let go of the both of them, and scooted into the kitchen to start setting the plates out onto the table.

Bulma turned her gaze to her mate, whom looked quite flustered and a little embarrassed, and reached out to pat his shoulder once, before unraveling her tail, from his, so she could approach her father. She leaned over and drew him into a very delicate hug, chuckling only slightly when he let out a little gasp, which caused him to drop his cigarette. "Hehe, sorry, daddy. I missed you." She cooed, before releasing him, and heading into the kitchen, her mate close on her heels.

Dr. Briefs had not expected her to squeeze him quite so tightly, and he could tell she was trying her best to be delicate. In his shock he had lost his cigarette, but cared little for it as he returned Bulma's hug with as much strength as he could muster. He had been certain his daughter would never forgive him, but actions spoke louder than words, and he felt the same love from her that he had her entire life. Whatever had happened in space had given her the strength to forgive, and he began to wonder if it was possible that it was what Vegeta had in mind the entire time.

It was like all the pieces had been fit back together. They all sat down at that familiar table together, and ate in peace. Vegeta and Bulma's tails found their way to their mates' thigh in the meantime, wrapping themselves around them as best they could from under the table as the two of them ate, listening to Bunny ramble on about what they had missed.

"And Goku seemed so worried about you, Bulma! But I just told him that you were in good hands and not to worry! He even tried to Convince your father to make him a ship so he could go look for you! That boy sure is crazy if he thought Mr. Vegeta would ever hurt you!" She reasoned, patting Bulma's shoulder. Bulma did little more than make a 'hn' noise between plates to signify she was paying attention. It was the first time she had eaten in front of her family since she changed, but by now she was so accustomed to eating this way that she didn't bat an eye, and her parents didn't seem to care anyway. What was she so self-conscious for anyway?

"So, Bulma dear, how far along are you? Or should I say, how much longer should we expect you to be carrying?" Dr. Briefs finally spoke, sipping his coffee and looking beyond the folded corner of his newspaper as he did so.

Bulma's eyes turned up in thought as she finished a mouthful of food. "Mmm.. According to Vegeta, I carry for six months, so I've got around one month left before the baby comes." She stated, before glancing over at her father. "I wanted to get home before the baby was born. I really didn't want it to be born in the void of space, didn't seem like an ideal environment." She reasoned.

"I am going to have to agree." Dr. Briefs stated in amusement, before stiffening his newspaper again, ending his end of the conversation.

"Oh I am so excited!" Bunny chimed in, patting her daughters' knee. "Mr. Vegeta, you must be so proud! You're going to be a father!" She just _had _ to try and draw Vegeta into the conversation, but got little more than a grunt in reply.

"You know he doesn't talk of things like that, Mother." Bulma reasoned. Thankfully, the conversation died there, Bulma having saved her mate from Bunny's constant queries about his feelings with a sudden groan. Her body lurched forward and she rested her hands on her abdomen in reaction to the throbbing pain in her womb.

Bunny leapt up in surprise, and reached out for her daughters' shoulder, surprised by the threatening growl that rose up from the blue-haired woman. "Bulma dear! Are you ok? Oh my!"

Bulma didn't realize how startled her mother had been. Her reaction was completely instinctive. She let out a shuddering sigh, trying her best to hide the pain. "I'm sorry, Mother. Just please. Don't try to help me. I need to handle this on my own. The baby is just kicking." As much as she tried to hide her irritation, her tail gave her away as it lashed to and fro like an annoyed cat. Vegeta seemed to be the only one to notice, however.

"Oh I'm sorry sweetie. I will try my best to respect that, but don't you dare try and handle childbirth all by yourself!" Bunny threatened in a sickeningly sweet tone, all the while waving a finger at her daughter.

"Trust me, mother, I don't plan to." She grunted, pushing her plate away from her. She knew she should still eat, but it was often that when the child inside of her decided to beat her during meals, she would lose her appetite.

Vegeta growled in response to Bulma's refusal to eat, and reached out to one of the many plates filled with food in front of him, before setting it before her. He offered her a very stern expression, and growled again to make his point.

Bulma stared at him for a few moments, meeting his gaze, before her resolve crumbled at his offering of his food. She let out a long, heavy sigh, before picking up her fork to eat the food that had been given to her.

Bunny and Dr. Briefs watched the exchanged in quiet understanding. Vegeta had shown blatant concern for their daughter and the life she carried inside of her. Consideration that he probably would not fathom giving to any living being, not even himself, when he first came to earth.

_That boy sure has come a long way, and clearly I had been too hasty to judge my daughter in her choice of men. _Dr. Briefs pondered to himself, before folding his newspaper, and standing. "Well, I will be in the lab if you need me, Bulma." With that, he pushed in his chair, and left.

Bulma ate slower now, not bothering to speak as her Mate sat nearby, stopping eating every so often to give her a stern look as if to warn her that she had better finish her meal. She barely acknowledged Vegeta with anything visible when he silently ordered her to eat, except with a small sigh in between mouthfuls of food.

Finally, when she was certain she could eat no more, she pushed her plate away, and stood abruptly.. Probably faster than she should have, but she meant to make a point. "I'm full." She said sternly to her growling mate, offering him a snarl, before turning on her heels. "I'm.. Going to my room, if anyone needs me.. " She looked over her shoulder a moment to the Prince, who eyed her curiously, and gave him an expectant look, before disappearing up the stairs.

Vegeta shifted somewhat in his seat, quite uncomfortable now that he had been left alone with that overly-cheerful woman Bulma called a mother. She gave him a very bright smile, and he sunk down behind his mountain of plates to avoid her gaze.

Finally, after a few uncomfortable minutes of attempting to eat in peace, he quickly rose from his seat, and left the kitchen without a word.. While he had told himself that he was going to return to the ship to train, the image of his mate's expression as she retreated from the kitchen earlier convinced him otherwise, and he found himself treading up the familiar path to Bulma's room.

He stopped at her door, hesitating a moment, before tossing aside the notion that he would be intruding. They had shared a room, no, a bed for the past five months, and he wasn't about to separate himself from what was rightfully his on account of where they were. So, without any more hesitation, he entered her room, shutting the door behind him.

Bulma was there, quietly lounging on her bed, with a notepad resting on her swollen stomach, sketching some manner of mathematical or scientific nonsense when Vegeta finally decided to join her. She smiled warmly towards him, and set her notebook on the nightstand beside her bed. She had begun to slide herself to the edge of the bed to stand, but was halted when he advanced towards her quickly, using his palm to push her back down onto the bed.

Vegeta's nostrils flared as he leaned in and inhaled her scent, his tail lashing to and fro, before seeking hers out. He knew what she had silently asked him to join her, and he could smell it. "You are somewhat fragile in this state, Onna." He admitted with slight concern.

"You know that it won't hurt the child. Just don't get too rough." She wasn't about to take no for an answer.

* * *

The weeks began to pass quickly as Bulma re-introduced herself to the life of an Earthling. While she could not do too terribly much in her current state, she could at least go to the lab and work on minor things, help out her father in some respects, and even begin integrating herself into the executive life. Goodness knows that the world had been stunned by her sudden reappearance, and even more stunned by her obvious pregnancy.

When questioned of the hows and whys, she simply explained that she had gotten married in private, and had been pregnant for some time, as to not rouse suspicions. On top of it all, she had chosen not to hide her extra appendage, despite pleading from her father. It seemed that no one really cared as much about the tail as they did about the fact that she was heavily pregnant.

After a week or two, however, things seemed to calm down and although she was very obviously weighted down by the final stage of her pregnancy, she was able to attend some meetings, and even perform some much needed upgrades to the gravity chamber, with assistants being used in place of her hands, under her strict supervision.

Even with the pressure of her assistants, Bulma did not back down from whatever duties she could manage to do in her condition, explaining that it simply was not like her to laze around and relax. She was restless, and needed something to occupy her time, especially when her mate was training, and she was unable to join him in any fashion.

Not even Vegeta could convince her to slow down, not that he tried. He knew as well as she the restlessness of a domestic lifestyle as a Saiya-jin, and it was often that a heavily pregnant female would become rather difficult to deal with in the last week or so of her pregnancy. No one of his species liked to feel caged. The baby by now surely felt caged, and was likely causing her constant pain. On top of that, her inability to perform a lot of her everyday tasks was making _her_ feel caged.

It was coming to the end of her pregnancy, and the entire household; no, the entire company was on edge. Bulma was a ticking time bomb in more ways than one, and the only comfort she found in life was when her mate showed up to calm her frayed nerves. It was likely the first time anyone had seen Vegeta as blatantly concerned for anyone, and Bulma as vicious as she was. It was like a complete role reversal.

This particular day, Bulma had decided to busy herself by attempting to help her mother cook lunch. It was one of few things she could be of use in, so long as she wasn't bending over or climbing on anything. It was one of few moments of peace in her recent life.

"Oh Bulma! I'm so glad you're here to help me! Maybe we should make mister Vegeta some of his favorites! He's been such a dear lately!" Bunny crooned at her daughter, patting her shoulder before shoving some vegetables on a cutting board towards her.

"I suppose that's a good idea." Bulma said somewhat in thought. "I've been a real monster lately, but this kid has worn out his welcome in there. I do not appreciate being used as a personal training room." She grumbled, grabbing a knife and expertly slicing the vegetables with little thought.

"Oh dear, well it should be any day now, shouldn't it?" Bunny replied. "I mean we did have a lot of fun the other day buying all kinds of baby clothes and things for the bedroom, though I do wish you would have let us get you an ultrasound! I would have loved to know if my grandchild was a boy or a girl!" Bunny sure did love to talk.

"Mother, we'll find out soon enough. Vegeta said it was tradition to wait until the baby is born. I'm fine with th-"

Bunny just continued to talk. "Oh I know dear, but it's just a shame is all.. Oh, but we forgot to throw you a baby shower! Maybe we should throw one after the baby is born!"

Bulma tried to get a word in.. "Mother.."

"We can invite everyone!" She squealed, clapping her hands.

"Mother..." Bulma tried again.

"Oh and we can have it out in the garden, and it'd be easier to have it when the baby is born so you won't be so limited in your movements.."

"MOTHER!" Bulma shouted loudly, her voice raspy as she did so.

Bunny turned suddenly to face her daughter, brows rising curiously. "Yes, dear?"

Bulma was leaned forward, one hand resting on the counter to give her some sort of leverage, her other hand resting on her stomach. Her back rose and fell with heavy breaths, and sweat began to pour down her face.

"Mother.. Get Vegeta.. The baby is coming.

* * *

AN: Haha. Baby woes next time, yes? Yes.


	20. Chapter 20

Okay, so I think I've made you all wait long enough for an update. I'm truly sorry for the delay, I just had a lot of hours at work all of a sudden, and had very little time to write coherently. I figured I'd wait until I had a day or two off to sit down and try and write out this chapter. At least it gave me a good opportunity to think about how I wanted the birthing of their child to go. I think I've got a pretty interesting twist on the whole thing.

So let me know what you think, and I'm sorry again for the delay in the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or any of the characters.

* * *

Chapter Twenty

* * *

It had been weeks since their return, and Vegeta had gone back to his old routine. Up early in the morning, breakfast, then training throughout the day, with the exception of meal periods. He ended his day after the sun went down, but with enough time to spend some.. Quality time with his mate.

She had been getting more and more irate as the last few days pressed on, and it was a clear cut sign that the life inside of her was becoming restless, and unable to be contained in its' fleshy cage for much longer.

It was for these reasons that Vegeta was not terribly surprised when he heard the blonde woman's frantic knocking at the Gravity Chamber door. He hurriedly disengaged the gravity, tossing a white towel over his shoulders as he tugged the door open, leaving Bunny to spill forwards towards him. If only because it would get her to speak faster, he reached out an arm and caught her, settling her down on the step she was on gently, before grunting as a means to request her to speak.

"Oh my!" Bunny squealed as she was caught in the arms of one very handsome saiya-jin Prince, using her hands to fan her face for a moment or two. "Oh Mr. Vegeta, isn't it wonderful? My Bulma is in labor! But she insisted you come to see her before we take her to the hospital. She didn't think that we should-"

"She's right. We will not be going to any of your public human medical facilities. They are far from adequate." He interrupted curtly, as he followed the blonde woman down the ramp of the chamber and towards the compound. "Bulma said that she had prepared a sterile medical room in the laboratory downstairs. That should be sufficient. We do not need to endanger anyone by taking her to anyplace public."

Bunny stopped, and turned about, canting her head to the side as she inquired. "Oh but what do you think any humans could possibly do to Bulma? Especially with you around!"

Vegeta shook his head quickly, and waved a hand of dismissal. "I am not concerned for her well being, but for the well being of those puny doctors and nurses. It would be very likely that they would be injured or worse. The last thing I need is to deal with the outcry of the public after the apparent murder of multiple medical figures."

Again, Bunny seemed confused. "Why would they be in danger? You wouldn't hurt them, Mr. Vegeta, you'd hurt my Bulma's feelings too much if you did!"

When they finally began moving again, Vegeta spoke up. "You do not understand the birthing process of Saiya-jins. I will not fault you because you have not witnessed it. Kakkarot's mate does not count because she is human. Just wait and see." At last they reached the kitchen, and Bunny nearly fainted at what she saw.

The table, that was once set with food was now upturned, food all over the floor, and Bulma stood, leaning against the counter, her knees threatening to buckle underneath her at the pain of her contraction. She hissed loudly as it struck her just as the two entered the room, and she didn't even seem to notice either of them as she let out a rather loud yowl of pain.

Vegeta pushed Bunny back against the wall, pointing a finger to threaten her not to move, before slowly advancing towards his growling mate. She looked almost feral, and the fur on Vegeta's tail stood on end a moment when she huffed, and sniffed the air in his direction in a distrustful manner. He stood still as death as she approached, like a wounded dog to a stranger.

Finally, she calmed, and leaned into his muscled frame, letting out a pained whimper as she did so. The expression she had only moments ago had faded. "Vegeta.. The baby.."

The Prince let out a single grunt, and gathered his mate up into his arms, before looking back at a very startled Bunny with a nod. He then turned, and headed down into the lab.

If they passed anyone, he would bark at them to hide and not follow, causing them to disappear into the various different parts of the lab, leaving the main corridor empty. Finally, at the end they reached their destination.

The interior looked very similar to a hospital room, but it was void of any doctors, except Dr. Briefs, whom had apparently been fitting the bed with a clean pair of sheets when Vegeta kicked the door open and gently deposited Bulma onto it.

"If you value your life, you will not be in this room. There's an observation window you two need to stay behind." He grunted towards the Doctor and his wife.

"Now hold on there, son, we should be able to stay in here for the birth-" He was interrupted by Bulma, who yowled loudly and damn near lunged out of her bed, stopped only by the strong grip of her mate. Her eyes were near entirely white, not unlike the rage that she had displayed when she nearly killed Yamcha so long ago.

"Now do you see?" Vegeta shouted. "Female Saiya-jins become damn near feral when they birth their brats! The pain is unimaginable! Myself and her real Sire and Dame are the only ones she would not lash out at! You would not survive if she got to you and I am not going to hold her down all day! GET OUT!" He barked finally, sending the two Briefs' elders out the door.

He quickly moved to the door and engaged the various electronic locks that would keep anyone from going in, and her from getting out. This was not going to be a pretty endeavor.

Moments after her outburst she had calmed again, her breaths heaving as she recoiled from the pain she felt.. She hadn't even realized what she had done as she looked to Vegeta with an expression riddled with pain and confusion. "Vegeta.. Where's my mother and father? Why aren't they here?"

Vegeta settled down on a small, uncomfortable stool beside her bed, and stared at the mirror against the wall. "They're out there. Watching. It is unsafe for them to be in here. A Saiya-jin birth is a dangerous matter."

Bulma looked rather dejected, letting out a long, shivering sigh as she leaned towards Vegeta, as if absorbing the strength that always seemed to waft off of him. She knew she had felt pain, but the way she acted had been completely lost to her, and it was only the beginning..

* * *

Hours passed of this, the contractions would come and she would roar and howl and yell, clawing at the sheets and trying desperately to find something to throw in anger. Each time, Vegeta would be there to intervene, using his sheer mass to hold her in place and keep her from bursting through the walls.

They were coming faster now, and each time she would become more violent. Bunny and Dr. Briefs could do little from their vantage point, quickly realizing what Vegeta had meant. Perhaps for a Sayia-jin Doctor it would be somewhat safer since they were built for abuse, but certainly not a human.

"He's suppressing her ki." Dr. briefs stated, watching the pressure in the room rise and fall on a small screen. It was just something that was built into that particular room, the ability to measure ki fluctuations. It was something Bulma had been working on to help Vegeta before all of that mess with her past being hidden from her happened.

He was spot on. It was something that Saiya-jin mates had the ability to do to one another in times of stress or pain. To suppress their mate's ki, it keeps them from hurting themselves or those around them. A technique developed through thousands of generations of Saiya-jin birthing. It came naturally to Vegeta.

He looked so concentrated each time she contracted, until finally the pain was just not stopping. Bulma had become akin to a raving, wild animal, her nails digging into the flesh of her mate's arm, drawing blood, which dripped off of him and unto the white sheets, staining them as he held her.

"Breathe, Onna. Breathe dammit!" He barked as she sucked in a large breath, and held it through the pain, her tail lashing about wildly before finally finding it's way around Vegeta's wrist. He used that hand to press just under her ribcage, forcing her to let the breath out before she turned blue.

Tears began to pour down her face as she struggled with the intensity of the pain, not even aware of her mate's skin that she had dragged under her fingernails. There were no instruments in the room, aside from a few screens against the wall, which Vegeta would not allow her to reach.

"Would you like some sort of local anesthetic, or a spinal?" Dr. Briefs' voice broke a momentary quiet between the two of them, but the sound of his voice caused her to stir. She began to growl menacingly as the voice droned on, and she lunged forward, reaching up at the speaker, but being nowhere near close enough to rip it out of the wall.

"You will not touch me!" She roared, trying her damnedest to pry herself from Vegeta's grasp, but with no success.

Vegeta glared over at the mirror threateningly, and spoke bluntly. "I will not shame my mate with such a weakling approach at birth. She does not want it either. I suggest you do not suggest it again." He blurted, before turning back to his mate. He preened her hair with his fingers, not even wincing when she clawed and bit into his arm, breaking the skin here and there. This pain was nothing in comparison to anything he had felt before, and surely paled in comparison to what she was feeling, and was going to feel as the labor progressed.

Progress it did, with day turning into night, and into day again as she struggled, pushing, breathing.. Every so often she got up to pace like a caged animal, Vegeta not one straying far from her side. He had done his very best to keep her sated, attempting more than once to get her to eat or drink something, with little success. When she had been calm enough to do so, she only managed a few bites down before throwing the food across the room as a wave of pain struck her.

Now it was getting to the point where there was no reprieve from the pain. Her roars and howl turning into pained cries. Her clawing turned to desperate grasping, her hand closest to Vegeta grabbing his arm, and squeezing the iron-like muscle with all her might, the other bending the metal of the bars on the side of her bed. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she pushed and breathed, her toes curling and her knees bending to signify that it was not much longer that the child would present itself.

Vegeta rotated so that he could view the area in question, roughly tugging the hospital gown he had put her in sometime during her moments of peace up enough so some of the harsh florescent lighting would provide a better view of what was going on, not once going out of range of his mate's grasp, so at the very least she could grab onto something that would not bend or break at the touch, despite the fact that there was some nasty bruises forming on his skin where her digits pressed.

As the child began to present itself, poor Bulma let out a slew of profanity in languages she didn't even realize she knew, ranging from the various languages of the Earth, right down to a few alien profane phrases that was probably buried down into her subconscious. Of course the meaning of them all were not lost to Vegeta, but he wasn't going to be bothered with the fact that she was shouting death threats to him in many tongues.

Bloodstained hair began to break through, just as her screaming became the most intense, especially for his sensitive hearing.. But he didn't seem to even notice.. As the head began to push through, with his own urging her to continue, he reached down and cradled the head with a touch so gentle anyone would guess he probably wasn't capable of it.

Vegeta's expression didn't change an inch as the remainder of the labor passed. Once the head was through, the rest was much easier, especially since he was capable of aiding the birthing by giving gentle tugs, and suppressing her ki from exploding the room they were in. It was a fathers' duty. A king's duty, to take on the duty of helping his mate give birth to his heir. It was his duty to take the abuse and the pain she would give him, and it was the least he could do considering what she had to go through to bring this life into the world.

Finally, after nearly twenty four hours of labor, the baby was out, as was the afterbirth. Vegeta felt no shame as he leaned down and bit with sharp teeth into the cord, severing it from the child, and tying it expertly, before withdrawing some white towels out from underneath the bed, and began to clean the newborn off, but was quickly interrupted by two arms, which reached out and snatched the child. He could not deny her, and did little more than smirk as she quickly cradled the baby in her arms.

"A boy.." She said between labored breaths, still reeling from the pain. Apparently, saiya-jin children were born with a full head of hair, as a familiar, but shorter crop of flame-shaped hair sat atop the boy's head. As the moisture of birth began to dry, it became very clear that although his face and hairstyle was that of his fathers', the hair color was not, as it resembled a very deep shade of red wine.

"He's beautiful.." She whispered, purring and cooing at the small boy, who's tiny tail wrapped around her wrist as she preened him and held him close. She wasn't even aware of her parents, whom had finally been permitted into the room, her father immediately applying some sort of painkiller to her, so he could.. Repair any damage in the region that had likely been quite abused in the past day or so, as well as to clean up any mess.

It wasn't until an unfamiliar hand began to reach over into her line of vision that she realized anyone was there, but in her slight delirium, all she could register was that the scent was not her mate's, and she growled loudly at the intruder that attempted to touch her offspring.

Vegeta joined her in that growl, his own hand resting on the top of his son's head as he glared at Bunny, who withdrew her hand quickly as if she had been bitten. "She's not prepared to let anyone near him. You will wait until she has recovered from this, or else you risk losing a limb. Just be glad she's allowing you to be in here."

With that, he turned to his mate, and went about wiping the sweat from her brow, and doing all he could within his limit of dignity to comfort her.

* * *

A long night passed, learning on her own to feed her son, as well as resting with the aid of the painkillers that Vegeta had only after the birth had finished allowed her to have. If anything it kept her from lashing out at him further. Not once did he leave her side, not even to eat. He hadn't even considered that it had been now almost two days since his last meal, until the morning struck, and two large carts full of food were wheeled into the room by Bunny herself, who seemed as bright and cheery as she always was, if not more so.

Hell, it wasn't until the scent of food struck her senses that she realized just how hungry she was.. She had been so stressed and drugged these past eight hours or so that she was barely conscious. She didn't argue when plate after plate of food was pushed on the small rotating table in front of her, using one hand to eat, while the other held her slumbering child. Vegeta sat nearby, consuming his own meal in silence.

"Oh dear I wish you would let me hold him, then you could use both hands to eat your breakfast! You must be starving!" Bunny chirped, though not daring to attempt to reach out for the child.

Bulma stopped eating suddenly, and stared up at her mother cautiously, before looking down at her son. Finally, with a very unsteady sigh, she used both arms to gently hold the child out to Bunny. "If he cries or fusses at all, don't think I won't take him back, and do not move from that spot." She threatened in an instinctive manner, barely restraining herself as bunny gently withdrew the boy from her arms.

Bulma watched Bunny cradle and coo at the child for a few brief moments, before tentatively returning to her meal. She ate much faster now, but stopped every so often to glance at Bunny from the corner of her eyes.. Even Vegeta began to mimic her, growling every so often in distrust as the Blonde woman lavished gentle affection on the child.

To be honest, Vegeta hadn't expected Bulma to give up the child so quickly, which was a testament to how diluted his mate was to the beings of this planet, but then again Bunny was the closest thing to a birth mother Bulma would ever have, so it was somewhat understandable.

It wasn't until their meals had been consumed that Bulma took the child back, only to hand him over to Vegeta for the first time, not really giving him a choice. It was due time for him to hold his son, and he knew it, taking the boy with as gentle a touch as he could manage, and examining him up close for the first time.

"He looks just like you." Bulma stated, before continuing. "I guess that's what my hair color was when I was born. I don't know which color I prefer.." Now that she had nourishment, she could think a lot clearer. "What should we name him?"

Vegeta didn't even need to think about it. "It is custom and mandatory for all first born sons of the royal family be named Vegeta."

Bulma's eyes rolled at the obvious response, and she sighed loudly. "Oh I know, I know, but we can't very well call him that all the time, especially around humans. People will get confused. We need to give him a middle name or something.. Something that we can call him informally." She put a finger to her lips as she thought, tilting her head.. She had given this thought before, but didn't feel the need to bring it up to Vegeta until now.

"How about Daikon?" She said finally, reaching out to touch her son's soft cheek, stroking it gently as he slept, his tail wrapped around his fathers' wrist now. He looked so content in Vegeta's arms, it was almost like opposing forces. Vegeta always looked so stern and rough, but he seemed to have such a serenity to him, even if his expression didn't ever change. It wasn't something she could describe other than she could feel the serenity in his soul.

"That is an acceptable alias." Vegeta replied, leaning down to inhale his son's unique scent. It was strong, the scent of the royal family.

"Oh that's such a lovely name, sweetie!" Bunny interrupted, settling down on the side of the bed, and withdrawing a small hairbrush from a bag hanging from one of the carts, so she could brush Bulma's hair, which was still disheveled. "And he is a beautiful baby, just like I thought he would be! I knew you two would make the most perfect babies!" That caused poor Vegeta's cheeks to redden considerably.

Bulma just smiled tiredly at the acceptance of the name, gathering up a few pillows behind her head so she could sit upright easier. Despite the painkillers, she still felt a dull, thrumming pain in her nether regions, and her tail felt completely numb, despite the fact that the very tip was swaying like a content cat.

Vegeta's tail had found it's way up and curled the end around his mates' extra appendage as he observed his son as he stirred, large onyx eyes blinking open and staring up at the matching pair with the same intensity that stared down at him. It was like looking into the past, and seeing himself in his own arms. He knew now what his father must have felt when he was born, and every generation before him. He felt a great swell of pride as the child reached up and grabbed the material of Vegeta's shirt, ripping the fabric. So strong, even for a newborn, as it should be.

It wasn't until the child began to fuss and whimper that Bulma had taken the boy back, if only because he was hungry and needed to nurse. Vegeta stood nearby whenever his mate fed the brat, mostly because he didn't want anyone other than himself and the child to see that particular area of his mate. Call him possessive, but it was simply in his nature to protect what was his.

* * *

Bulma had expected all of the motherly duties to be hers, she expected that once she was out of that medial room and into the compound she would be the one that would do all the diaper changing, feeding, and clothing. She couldn't have been further from the truth.

As much as Vegeta would have liked to return to his strenuous training, he of all people understood that the birth had taken a lot of Bulma. Even though she was up and about, leaving her to deal with a very dangerous child. Newborn or not, he was still a saiya-jin, and he had to teach her how to properly suppress his ki, and keep him from damaging anything as she cared for him. Even in the first few weeks, he was dangerous, and had left Bulma with a few bruises.

The Prince helped all he could, realizing when his mate was suffering from exhaustion, and taking up the duties of a parent when he needed to, even when she was too tired to thank him for it. Not that thanks was necessary. It was his duty, as well as hers, to make sure the child learned, even at such a young age, not to destroy his surroundings, or the humans that wanted so badly to hold and coddle him.

Bulma sat in a large, cushioned chair that she had taken from the living room and placed into the room that she now shared with Vegeta and the child, Daikon nestled comfortably in her arm as he slept. There were very few moments of peace, even with Vegeta's help, and she was going to enjoy this quiet moment of mother-son bonding. Kami knew that any moment now the child would wake and begin thrashing in discontent over one thing or another. Not that she didn't love the child; she would give her very being to keep Daikon safe, but he was a stubborn little guy. _Just like his father. _ She mused to herself, smirking down at the boy.

"What is so amusing?" A raspy voice came from the doorway. Bulma lifted her head, her smirk spreading to a smile as she responded.

"I was thinking of how he's just like you. Stubborn as a mule."

Vegeta scoffed a moment, pulling up a wooden chair to sit next to his mate, his gaze focused on the slumbering child. "There is no being in this universe more stubborn than his mother." He responded, leaning forward to inhale Bulma's scent, only after he was sure no one was around to see him do so. It wasn't that affection was rare from vegeta, it was that he normally didn't show it when others were around. It was a Saiya-jin thing. It showed weakness, a thing only some third-classes ever did.

Bulma purred quietly, but the moment of peace was quickly interrupted by the telltale whimpers and whines from the child in her arms. She rocked the child in a futile attempt to lull him back to sleep, but the way his tiny fingers grabbed at her blouse let her know exactly what he was expecting of her. "This child is more like you as the days go on, I'm telling you. The little perv." She mused, ignoring the snort from Vegeta.

"Do not equate his needing to feed to my fondness for your body. If the brat grew up and tried to take you in that fashion I'd end his life myself." He responded defensively.

An elbow shot out and jabbed Vegeta in the side, as Bulma hissed her response. "Don't say things like that! It would never happen and you wouldn't dare hurt him!" She said worriedly, rotating her body so that her back was to Vegeta, coddling her son in a protective manner.

Vegeta's brows rose curiously at her instinctive reaction. "Calm down, Onna. It would not happen." He snorted, reaching out to turn her so that he could once again view his child.

"Don't be mad at me, but I'm surprised you've been so helpful." Bulma stated finally.. "Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for it, but I just didn't picture you as the type to change diapers." She smiled warmly, as a means to hopefully calm him in case he flew off the handle. She wasn't trying to offend him, after all.

Vegeta sat back in his seat, folding his arms over his chest as he listened. "Just as it was my duty to be there and help you birth the brat, it is my duty to make sure you do not exhaust yourself caring for him. He is my brat too, and I will not shame you by making you take care of him by yourself." He spoke as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. As off-character as it seemed for him, it didn't hurt his pride to take on the duties of a parent, and to provide what his son needed during a time where he could not provide it for himself.

It was in that moment that Bulma saw a new side of him, the pride not for himself, but for his offspring, and his mate. It was probably something he would not have ever found had he never come to Earth, another reason to appreciate this planet. She reached out and touched his cheek, despite the fact that he sent her a rather icy glare. "Yes yes, scary face. I'm not fooled by it." She admitted with a grin, before lowering her hand. "I'm glad we came back."

She was right, of course. Vegeta didn't actually mind that she had touched his face, it was just in his nature to not show that he had been pleased by it, at least not when he wasn't pinning his mate below him. "Hn." Was all he grunted in response, before leaning over a moment to view his nursing child. "There has never been a prince with that hair color."

She lifted a brow curiously, before inquiring. "Is that a bad thing? "

Her worries were dismissed with the shake of his head. "My father's hair was brown. It was unusual, but he was well respected." Vegeta reached out, and ran his fingers through the boy's hair.. Despite the fact that Bulma had taken on human traits such as her unusually soft hair, as well as her coloration, the child had come out distinctly Saiya-jin. Not that he would have minded if the boy had blue hair or something, but it was pleasing to see these aspects of his race still existing in some form.

There they sat, admiring their offspring as the afternoon light bathed them through the sheer curtains that blocked the french doors. Both of them silent now, enjoying the peace as the boy returned to slumber after a long period of nursing. At least for the time being, everything was as it should be.

* * *

Author's note: Hokay, I think maybe one more chapter then this will all be done! I hope you've enjoyed it though.


	21. Chapter 21

So, here we are, at the final chapter of my story. I considered expanding on this in an additional story, but it would have been much further into the future [as the saiyans in my universe have very very long lifespans], but it would have been too much focus on the original characters and probably wouldn't go over too well, so maybe I'll write it for myself and never publish it.

Anyway, I wanted to bring this story to somewhat of a conclusion, and explain the difference between my universe and the one we're all familiar with, aside from the obvious, that is. This chapter is a time skip, again so I can give some form of closure. I wasn't sure how to end it, and ended up writing, and re-writing the chapter. It took a long time to write, sorry about that guys!

Oh and for those who were wondering: Daikon is a type of raddish.

I do hope you enjoyed reading my story as much as I enjoyed writing it, and I look forward to reading your fics in the future. [To those who are applicable.]

disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or any of the characters.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-one

* * *

"Why am I being subjected to women's work? It's not my fault Shoga and Ginger are too weak!"

A raven brow twitched in irritation as Vegeta stood over the ten year-old child, who stood staring defiantly at the remains of a supply shed, as if his icy gaze would somehow clean up the mess.

"Perhaps next time you should consider the level of training you have in comparison to your siblings, brat!" The Prince spat at the short boy, who aside from his unusual wine-colored hair, looked to be a near carbon-copy of his father.

The boy huffed, kicking a large chunk of rubble thoughtlessly, though careful not to send the object in question flying into a wall, since that would just cause more work for him in the long run. His tail unraveled from about his waist and lashed to and fro in discontent at the task ahead of him. "This is servant's work! Make one of mother's human's clean it up!" He argued in a tone much louder than was needed.

Vegeta's ears rung at the volume of the child's voice, his fists clenching and un-clenching in barely contained fury at the defiance of the child. To restrain himself, he folded his arms over his chest, and stared down his nose at the boy, a scowl deepening on chiseled features. "Because it was your carelessness with them that caused this. It was your untrained ki blast that destroyed this shed, so it is your responsibility to retrieve any supplies that aren't destroyed, and clean up this mess!" Gloved digits rapped impatiently on his bicep as he watched the child war with himself.

After a few moments of the boy's silence, as well as his refusal to move, he reached out an arm, and quickly grasped hold of the young boys' tail, lifting him up into the air by it. Immediately, the boy began to yowl in pain, his arms thrashing like a wild animal caught in some inhumane trap. There came a guttural chuckle from the Prince at the child's' reaction. He had asked for it, after all. "Daikon, you are pathetic! Were we on Vegeta-sei you would be beaten to a bloody pulp. It is fortunate for you that your mother prefers you mostly unharmed during school months. However, if you do not comply, do not think for one moment that I will not rip your tail from it's socket and deny you the honor of having it until it grows back of it's own accord. That could take years." With that said, he simply released the tail, which in turn simply dropped the boy to the ground with a thud.

The poor child quivered, reeling from the pain of a weakness he had still yet to overcome, his tail trembling as it wrapped protectively around his waist. With whatever pride Daikon could muster, he clambered to his feet, and began discontentedly removing all sorts of rubble and supplies from the heap he had created.

Vegeta sneered at the child for good measure, as if a lingering threat to keep the boy from straying from his duties, before turning on his heels, and retreating into the compound.

Ten years had passed since they returned to Earth, and life it seems had no intention of slowing down. Not long after the birth of his first son, his mate had been gifted with new life, and six months later, the twins were born. Rare as it was for a female to be born, two was almost unheard of, and truly they were treasures to behold.

Identical in appearance, but night and day when it came to personality, Shoga and Ginger were both firecrackers in their own right. Even as Vegeta tread into the living room, the difference between the two were as clear as glass.

Both of them had long, black hair, which spiked this way and that, stopping just past their rear, reminiscent of Vegeta's mothers' hair, but their eyes were unmistakably inherited from Bulma. Despite their charcoal coloration, they had the unusually cheerful look to them, as well as his mate's beautiful facial structure.

Despite their dainty facial features, they were both warriors in their own right. He had been initially surprised to see the level of ki the two of them had been born with, however the two had taken considerably separate paths when they became old enough to be educated.

Shoga was the hardcore fighter of the two, and often went head-to-head with her older brother, though because Daikon had a good year of training and physical development, as well as the sturdier build from being a male, she was quite often on the sour end of things, and never took it well when Vegeta chastised Daikon for going hard on her when they sparred. Even now as she sat in the living room, she kept her eyes shut tight, her brow furrowed in a frustrated meditation, which was likely the only thing keeping her from adding to that pile of rubble outside. She had lost the fight, and it was her body that had slammed into the shed, ruining it, but it was her brothers' ki blast that had sent her careening into it in the first place.

On the other hand, there was Ginger. Identical in appearance, but an entirely different person. While she did commit to training, she wasn't the type to spend her free time exchanging blows with her siblings. Instead, she took after her mother in the intelligence aspect. She hadn't been involved in the quarrel with Daikon, but now sat quietly on the couch beside her sister, a small soldering tool in one hand, and a strange device in the other, obviously some form of invention. Despite their differences, they were often found together, which had to do with the fact that they shared some sort of bond from being twins. It wasn't an uncommon trait for Saiya-jin twins.

"I can't believe you stopped our spar, father!" Shoga finally yelped out, her eyes bolting open to meet Vegeta's glare with her own. "I had it under control!"

Vegeta snorted at her claim, and lifted his chin in an arrogant manner. "When structures are demolished as a result of you being unable to contain an attack, it is obvious that you did not have anything under control."

Shoga shot up from her seat and stomped the floor with her foot after landing, her small hands clenched tightly into fists as she argued. "Stop treating me like I'm some helpless weakling! I can't stand it!" She fumed, fearlessly stomping her way over to her father, and staring up at him with the ferocity that matched his own.

"Hn. You have yet to prove that you can handle a battle with that brat out there." He used a gloved hand to motion out the window at Daikon, who was still cleaning the mess outside. It wasn't that he thought Shoga to be weak; quite on the contrary. She was stronger than most saiya-jin females of her age, and was a force to be reckoned with in battle. Perhaps when she reached adulthood she would develop into a fighter that surpassed her older brother. While it was rare for a female to be a formidable force, it wasn't unheard of. She was _his_ child, after all. On top of that, she was the only of his siblings to top kakkarot's youngest whelp. She certainly kept her head in battle a lot better than Daikon could, it was just the sheer strength and level of ki that she lacked.

Shoga opened her mouth to protest, but was cut off by a voice that floated from the entryway to the kitchen on the other end of the living room.

"Vegeta! What have I told you about letting those two spar so close to the compound? If anyone should be cleaning that mess it should be you!" Bulma barked, quickly moving to Shoga, and placing a palm on top of her head, her tail reaching down to brush against the girls' back. For whatever reason, it seemed to calm the child, who huffed in discontent, before storming upstairs to more than likely sulk in her room. For an eight year-old, she was quite feisty.

"Mommy!" A cheerful voice carried from the couch. "I'm almost finished with my invention! Can I go down and show grandpa?"

The child served as a distraction for Vegeta to slip away to the confines of his Gravity Chamber, as Bulma rotated on her heels, canting her head to the side to observe the small girl who sat with her legs dangling off the edge of the couch, her small brown tail rapping the cushion behind her like a content cat. The blue-haired heiress couldn't help but smile at the small bits of wire and parts surrounding a small electronic device. She really was so much like her that it was like looking into her own past. "Yes, you can go show him, but AFTER you've cleaned up this mess. You know how your Nana hates when you leave parts on her coffee table."

Ginger smiled brightly, small canines adding ferocity to her expression. If it were anyone but family, they'd think her intimidating, but Bulma knew better. As strong as she was, she was likely sweeter and more docile than most humans. Bulma gave her one last knowing nod, before heading out the door to do damage control on her son.

* * *

Daikon took after his father too much for his own good. Since he was able to walk he displayed the arrogant pride Bulma associated with Vegeta, but she wasn't surprised in the least. His overall appearance always seemed to scream royalty, even when doing menial tasks that were better suited for a cleaning crew than a prince.

It was that very menial task that drove the boy up the wall. _Father wastes his breath doting on Shoga! She's never going to beat me! No girl can beat me! _He fumed at himself as he yanked gardening tools out of the rubble, and set them aside. _It's not fair! She should be cleaning this mess too!_

"You really should learn when to hold your tongue, Daikon." Bulma's Voice tore the boy from his thoughts as she approached the discontented young lad, who immediately dropped a hedge-clipper, before quickly retreating to his mother.

It was his one weakness, the one thing that Vegeta could not make the boy get past; he was a complete momma's boy. He loved his mother to the point where pride was tossed right out the window as he stopped in front of her, and looked up at her with a rather intense, but somehow sad expression. "It's not fair! She asked to spar and I end up having to clean up after her!"

Bulma grunted as she lowered herself to one knee, one hand resting on her stomach as she reached out the other to touch the boy's cheek with her palm. "You should know by now that Shoga and Ginger aren't as strong as you. Aside from that, you shouldn't have been fighting so close to the compound. " She leaned forward, pressing her forehead to Daikon's. It was a form of Saiya-jin affection she had used purely out of instinct, but that along with the gentle purr that rumbled in her throat had calmed the young boys' frayed nerves. "Now listen. It shouldn't take you that long to clean this up if you don't spend so much time moping. How about you finish this up, and then come inside? We're having dinner soon and your Nana is cooking some of your favorites. She'll be upset if you come late and the food has gone cold."

Daikon's cheeks reddened in slight embarrassment, but it faded quickly only because he found it difficult to maintain his stone-like exterior when his mother was concerned. His father always lectured him on being so easily swayed by his mother, but it wasn't as if Vegeta's resolve didn't crumble when Bulma showed him any sort of affection. She had that effect on both of them. The boy nodded quietly, and reached his short arms up to wrap them around his mothers' neck in a very brief hug, before quickly turning about to return to his duties, trying his very best to pick up not only the mess, but the pieces of his pride as well.

* * *

Ten O'clock, and finally the three children had found solace in their beds for the night. For Bulma, it was the only time she had any sort of peace and quiet. Even with the children in school, the workload of being the president of a multi-trillion-zeny corporation was tiring business, as well as keeping up with a very demanding mate, whom pressed her daily to keep up her training, if not for her but for her children. The last thing she needed was to be left behind and unable to handle her own offspring, after all.

As she shut the last childs' door, two arms reached out and around from behind her, tugging her backwards. She let out a sharp gasp, trying her best not to squeal as the sound of a familiar low rumbling purr assaulted her hearing. "Vegeta!" She whispered, turning her head as best she could to view him in the darkness of the hallway. "Don't sneak up on me like that! I just got Daikon to sleep!"

Vegeta's nostrils flared as he buried his nose into that river of aqua-colored hair, inhaling her scent as deeply as he could. One hand reached forward a bit more, rubbing the somewhat swollen abdomen of his mate. "And I told you I could put him down. He fights, and you are with child." His low, raspy voice broke his silence.

It had been years since she had become with child, but it was a nice reprieve from the trials of carrying and birthing a saiya-jin babe. Her body simply didn't have the energy to produce more life after having one very energetic son, and two very powerful twins in a little over a years' time. Like soil that needed time to become fertile again. It had been such a surprise when she felt the small ki within her four months ago, and although she had once told herself that she had enough offspring, the feeling of this child within her gave her and her mate nothing but joy. Still, she couldn't get past Vegeta's need to pamper her.

"Oh don't be silly. He doesn't even hit that hard." Which she probably would have thought insane ten years ago. It was true, she had become much stronger physically and ki-wise. Aside from the pain, and subsequent strength boost from birthing a son and twins, she trained regularly whether she wanted to or not. "Anyway, it's the girls' birthday party tomorrow. I've got Goku and everyone else coming by." She turned about to face Vegeta, pointing a finger threateningly at him. "I know you do not like these gatherings, but it would mean a lot to them if you at least showed up for a little while. No one's asking you to be social, but they were heartbroken last year when you flew off and didn't come back for a week."

Vegeta cringed inwardly at Bulma's request. "The last time I attended one of these gatherinngs, Kakkarot's harpy of a mate nearly caused my ears to bleed." He said flatly, letting out a subtle growl that wasn't lost on his mate's ears. "But we shall see." He admitted finally, before guiding Bulma across the hall and into the room they shared.

* * *

Ten years, if not longer. That's how long it had been since Bulma had seen most of the Z fighters. Sure, because of a close friendship between Goten and Daikon, they saw plenty of Goku, Gohan and Chichi, but the others had more or less fallen out of contact.

Sure, there had been dangers that had brought the fighters themselves, Vegeta included together, but not once did he mention anything about Bulma or his offspring. You can imagine the surprise the guests had when they received an invitation to the birthday at Capsule corporation, explaining that it was for her twin girls who were going to be nine. She had wanted to bring everyone together, to reminisce old times, and to introduce her precious brood to the people who helped make her who she was today.

Krillen had been married two years now, to a young woman whom had suffered by the hands of one Dr. Gero, but had managed her own escape at the loss of her twin brother. It had been Krillen whom was there to comfort her, and introduce her to a life worth living. As unusual pair as it may have been, they were the first to arrive, greeted by an incredibly cheerful Bunny, who escorted the two, along with their precious little girl, [and one lecherous old man] out into the indoor gardens.

What they found there was no less than shocking. It was likely that neither Krillen nor his wife had ever seen so many humanoids with tails in one place. First there was Vegeta, who leaned against a tree near the door of the gardens, surveying anyone who entered with his distrustful gaze. His tail was wrapped tightly around his waist. Last Krillen had seen of him, that appendage certainly wasn't there.

Moments later, a familiar face approached the vertically-challenged fighter, and scooped him up in a surprisingly powerful bear hug. It was Bulma, her features ever brightened by her old friends' presence. "Krillen! It's so nice to see you!" Bulma chirped, before hearing her friends desperate gasp for air, and letting him down.

After regulating his breathing, he stared up in shock at the blue-haired wonder, as well as the furry appendage that waved behind her as if it had always been there. He couldn't figure out which was more shocking, the fact that she had a tail, or the fact that she nearly squeezed the life out of him with little more than a friendly gesture. "Uh.. Bulma-?"

Before he even got his question out, Bulma had interrupted him. "And this must be the wife Goku told me about! Well I'm glad you two could come." As if the suprises just kept coming, two young girls burst forth from a doorway that had come from another part of the compound, both of them giggling and laughing as they chased what looked to be a robotic bird of some sort. Just like Bulma and Vegeta, they sported long, furry brown tails.

Bulma reached out, snatching each of them with one arm each, and guiding them to stand before their guests. "These here are the birthday girls, Shoga and Ginger." She motioned to each respectively, as if the differences between them were as clear as day. The two girls smiled brightly, and waved excitedly at the small blonde girl who clung to her mothers' leg across from them.

The Woman at Krillen's side gave Krillen a nudge, and a rather stern look. The short man stumbled on his words a moment, before grinning sheepishly. "It's nice to meet you both! I'm Krillen, and this is my wife Eighteen. This here is our daughter, Marron. Marron, say hi to Ginger and Shoga!"

The young blonde girl smiled brightly then, and waved enthusiasticly to the other girls. It was rare for her to find kids around her age to play with, after all.

"Well, now that we're introduced..." Bulma paused, motioning behind her to a sandbox, and a large number of toys scattered across the garden. "Why don't you three go play?" With that, all three girls scampered off, and Bulma returned her gaze to her guests. "I've heard so much about you, Eighteen, it's a shame I haven't been able to meet you sooner, these kids of mine are a handful, and their father doesn't fare much better sometimes." She grinned at that comment, obviously the comment was mostly in jest.

The short fighter stammered a moment or two, before his gaze strayed to another young figure, whom emerged from the yard entrance to the gardens, and had begun talking with Vegeta. He said nothing, but his gaze spoke Volumes.

Bulma followed Krillen's gaze to the young boy, and motioned to him with a nod. "That's Daikon, my oldest. He's not much of a social type, kind of like his father. The only exception is when he's with Goten.-"

The resemblance the child had to Vegeta was almost uncanny, and Krillen burst out suddenly "Wait, he's Vegeta's son? Are you serious?" He exclaimed, shaking his head. "And the girls?"

Bulma's tail whipped to and fro as she came to realize that Goku had conveniently left out any of these details prior to handing out the party invites. _That dolt! He was supposed to tell them ahead of time! Ah well, I suppose it cannot be helped now. _"Yes, they are all his, and this one.." She put a hand on her slightly swollen stomach, which was covered by a rather lovely shirt. "We were married some ten years ago.. Well, married to Saiya-jin standards.. We had an earth ceremony about eight years ago though. I'm really sorry, Goku was supposed to fill you guys in on this stuff, I hadn't meant to overload you with all of this, and it's kind of a long story.."

It was Eighteen who pointed out the obvious.. "Krillen was under the impression you were human. Clearly he was mistaken."

Bulma let out a hearty laugh. "Oh don't worry, I was under the impression that I was human for most of my life. I'd go into details, but let's just leave it at the fact that it was a shock to everyone, including me, to find out I wasn't." That was thee understatement of the century.

* * *

As more guests arrived, Bulma found herself doing a lot of damage control, especially when Tien nearly flew into a rage at all of the Saiya-jins that seemed to be cropping up in Capsule Corporation. He hadn't had a good history with the race, after all, and was always one to fly off the handle.

When Goku arrived, Bulma made sure to give him a swift kick in the ribs for the mistake he had made, and not even his own wife gave her husband a second look when he keeled over from the force of her strike.

"Gosh Bulma!" Goku wheezed. "You sure have gotten strong, and fast!" He admitted.

Bulma quickly retorted, putting her hands on her hips as she did so. "You wouldn't know because you're never around!" She spouted. "Anyway, there's a ton of food, so-" She didn't even need to finish. Goku was at the table, which had mountains of food considering how many saiya-jins had to be fed, stuffing his face.

Sometime during this encounter, Vegeta had disappeared with his son to the confines of the gravity chamber, but as promised, they both emerged from their training long enough to watch Shoga and Ginger blow out the candles and receive their gifts.

Thankfully, Bulma had told everyone what each girl liked, so there was no issues with them not enjoying their gifts. When the main events of the party had come to and end, and the girls had been retired to sleep, Vegeta retreated to the Gravity Chamber, while Bulma, Daikon, the twins, and the guests settled down at a bonfire to listen to Bulma's story of how she discovered who and what she was.

"And I don't even remember what happened, really.." She paused.. "Apparently I tackled Yamcha right through the front door and nearly smashed his face in! Goku had to get him to the lookout to get him a senzu bean. I didn't know I had it in me!"

"Well that certainly explains why he isn't here." Chiaoutzu commented, receiving a nod in reply.

"So here's the question burning on everyone's tongue.. How did you end up with Vegeta? I mean it couldn't just be because you turned out to be Saiya-jin, right?" Krillen finally inquired.

Bulma's gaze lifted as she pet Daikon's head. He slept quietly next to her, his head resting in her lap. "At first I tried to accuse him of it, but the fact of the matter was we were showing interest in one another long before any of that happened.. But I am not going to claim that Saiya-jin hormones did not play some part in it. I like to think it just helped close the gap."

After a few moments of silence that seemed to stretch on forever, it was Chichi who broke the silence. "Well I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet, but you're pregnant again? That stubborn Prince isn't turning you into some-"

"Don't be silly!" Bulma knew that question was coming. "I wanted the child. I never really wanted children but now that I've had some, I guess I just really enjoy bringing them into the world.. The labor is hard but believe it or not raising them isn't as bad as it seems. I mean Vegeta is a big help, and he's a good father."

"Well there's something I never expected to hear." Tien said offhandedly.

Bulma huffed defensively, before continuing. "He helped me a lot when they were babies, shared the workload and made sure I got enough rest when I needed it, and he's a good disciplinarian. The kids really look up to him. He's their hero."

Sometime during this discussion, Vegeta had emerged from his training, and wandered out to the garden, only to catch the tail end of the conversation. It was an odd feeling, hearing Bulma speak so highly of him, and hearing of his offspring's' fondness for him. Things had changed so swiftly that it was often he found himself not plagued by his past as heavily as he once was.

Once the last of the guests had left, he made himself known, helping his mate put three slumbering brats to bed, before retiring with her. It was a routine, it seemed, and one he found he did not hate in the least. If anyone had told him a little over ten years ago that he'd be a proud father with a strong, independent, and beautiful mate, living a domestic life on a backwater planet, he would have destroyed them, and left little more than a cinder.

_Funny how things change. _Things had changed for the better, but one thing was for sure, it certainly had been unexpected.


End file.
